ANTIIHOPOLOGY  LIBRARY 


n 


THE 


TESTIMONY  OF  MODERN  SCIENCE 


TO   THE 


UNITY  OF  MANKIND; 

BEING   A   SUMMARY  OF   THE   COXOLUSIONS   ANNOUNCED   BY   THE   HIGHEST 
AUTHORITIES    IN    THE    SEVERAL    DEPARTMENTS   OF   PHYS- 
IOLOGY,   ZOOLOGY,    AND    COMPARATIVE    PHI- 
LOLOGY  IN   FAVOR   OF   THE 

SPECIFIC  UNITY  AND  COMMON  ORIGIN  OF 
ALL  THE  VARIETIES  OF  MAN. 


BY 

J.  L.  CABELL,  11  D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  COKPARATnT:  ANATOMY   A^D   PHYSIOLOGY,  IN'  THE   UNIVERSTTY   OF  VIRGINU. 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTORY  NOTICE 
BY    JAMES    W.     ALEXANDER,    D.  D. 


^jtunb   <Sbitioit   l-firiscir. 


NEW    YORK: 

ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

No.    530    BROADWAY. 

18G0. 


-'^3. 


0'^ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Cougiess,  in  the  year  lS5'-s   n} 

BOBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


Stereotyhei)  and  Printed  ft 

EDWARD  0.  JEXICIXS, 

No.  26  Fraxktort  Street,  New  Yohk, 


c  ^  ^ 

^  k)  i  J,   i  j        (^-yXK '-'.vp 


TO    THE    SECOND    EDITION. 


The  enterprising  Publishers  having  determined  to 
print  a  second  edition  of  this  Essay,  I  avail  myself  of 
the  occasion,  in  conformity  with  tlie  suggestions  of  a 
friendly  critic,  to  prepare  for  it  an  Analytical  "  Table 
of  Contents"  and  an  "Index  of  Authors."  In  con- 
nection with  the  former  part  of  this  task,  I  have  con- 
sidered it  expedient  to  indicate  the  leading  branches 
of  the  argument  by  divisions  into  Chapters  under  each 
of  the  two  larger  divisions  adopted  in  the  first  edition. 
This  plan  has  rendered  necessary  a  slight  change  in 
the  arrangement  of  some  of  the  subordinate  topics 
noticed  in  Part  II.,  the  order  heretofore  adopted  having 
been  determined  by  circumstances  that  had  no  refer- 
ence to  such  a  classification. 

J.  L.  C. 
University  of  Virginia,  February,  1859. 

[iii] 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Inteoddotory  Notice  by  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Alexander,  D.  D.,  ix 

Preface  to  the  First  Edition,  .  .  .  .  .      xv 

Preface  to  the  Second  Edition,      ....  iU 


PART    r. 

THE  SPECIFIC  UNITY  OF  ALL  THE  RACES  OF  MEN. 

CHAPTER    I. 

preliminary  topics— definition  of  species  and  varieties  among 

ANIMALS.  * 

PAGE. 

►Relations  of  Science  to  Revelation,           .           .           .           ...  22 

Definition  of  Species  by  Cuvier,  DecandoUe,  &c.,         ....  29 

Objections  raised  by  Agassiz,         .......  30 

Morton's  definition  adopted  by  Agassiz,           .....  31 

»This  definition  has  no  value  as  a  practical  criterion  of  Species,                        .  32 

Capacity  of  Variation  exhibited  by  many  Species,     ....  34 

Conditions  of  the  production  of  "  Perjiiaraejrf  Farie/ias,  .            .            •      *   •  35 

Permanent  Varieties  springing  from  accidental  cougonjtal  peculiarities,     .  37 
Permanent  Varieties  springing  from  the  long  continuod  operations  of  certain 

modifying  agencies,       ........  42 

The  influence  of  Climate  and  Food  in  the  production  of  fixed  varieties.      .  47 

Hereditary  transmission  of  "  acquired  instincts,"                                               .  52 

Shortness  of  the  time  required  for  the  production  of  VariKies  57 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    II. 


ON  THE  MEANS  OP  DISCRIMINATING  BETWEEN  SPECIES  AND  PERMANENT 

VARIETIES. 


*  Historical  Test,        ......... 

Test  derived  from  the  existence  or  non-existence  of  transitional  forms, 

Varieties  of  the  Dog,  ........ 

Varieties  of  the  Wolf,    ........ 

Test  derived  from  the  constancy  or  inconstancy  of  alleged  differential  char- 
acters,   .......... 

Test  derived  from  physiological  conformity,  ..... 

Test  derived  from  the  phenomena  of  hybridity,  ..... 

Summary  enumeration  of  the  points  of  physiological  conformity  which  con- 
cur with  specific  identity,  ....... 

Psychological  conformity  as  a  criterion  of  .Specific  Unity, 
-Summary  Conclusions,  ........ 


PAGE. 

59 
64 
65 
69 

72 
74 
75 

94 
95 
96 


CHAPTER    III. 


APPLICATION  OF  THE  FOREGOING  PRINCIPLES  TO   THE  DETERMINATION  OP 

THE   SPECIFIC    RELATIONS   OF   THE   RACES   OF   MEN. 


Historical  Argument,  ........ 

Change  of  Type  by  the  Slagyar  race,  ..... 

Case  of  certain  natives  of  Ireland  whose  bodily  conformation  has  been  greatly 

altered  by  degradation  and  hardship,  .... 

Gradational  series  among  the  American  races,  .... 

Gradational  series  among  the  African  races. 

Testimony  of  Baron  Alexander  Humboldt,      ..... 

Inconstancy  of  alleged  differential  characters,    .... 

Shape  and  dimensions  of  the  cranium,  ..... 

Hue  of  the  skin,       ........ 

Form  of  the  shaft  of  the  hair,  ....... 

Testimony  of  Prof.  Richard  Owen,  ..... 

Physiological  unity  of  the  various  races  of  men  as  summarily  stated  by 

Dr.  Prichard,     ........ 

Testimony  of  Prof.  J.  MuUer,   ....... 

Testimony  of  Prof.  Draper,  ...... 

Dr.  Nott's  assertions  as  to  the  infertility  of  Mulattoes, 

Refutation  of  these  assertions  by  Dr.  Bachman, 

Argument  of  Professor  Dana  on  the  same  subject,   .  .  .     note  to 

Psychological  unity  of  the  races  of  men,  .... 

Adm'ssions  of  Professor  Aga.ssiz  on  this  point,  .... 

A  Imissious  of  the  W-3Stminster  Review,  ..... 


102 
109 

112 
113 
115 
124 
130 
130 
132 
134 
136 

137 
138 
139 
140 
146 
147 
151 
158 
lOO 


VI  COKTENTS. 

PART    II. 

DISCUSSION   OF  THE  QDESTION   OF   THE   SINGLE   OR  PLURAL  ORIGIN,  AND 
INCIDENTALLY,  OF  THE  ANTIQUrrr  OF  THE  HUMAN  SPECIES. 

CHAPTER    I. 

CRITICAL  NOTICE   OF  THE  VIEWS  ADVAInCED  BY  PROF.  AGASSIii. 

PAGE. 

^  1.  On  the  Single  or  Plural  Origin  of  Identical  Species. 
« 

The  question  of  unity  or  plurality  of  origin  distinct  from  that  of  unity  or  di- 
versity of  species,        ........  165 

Prof.  Agassiz' opinions  as  expressed  in  1845,  cited,    ....  166 

Citation  of  his  recently  modified  opinions,            .....  168 

Natural  limits  of  the  Zoological  Provinces,    .....  173 

Prof.  Forbes'  argument  in  favor  of  a  single  origin  for  identical  species,          .  175 

Doctrine  of  Representative  Species,     ......  170 

§  2.  Prof.  Agassiz'  Argument  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  a  Multiple  Origin  of  the 

Races  of  Mankind. 

Alleged  coincidence  between  the  natural  limits  of  the  zoological  provinces  and 

the  natural  range  of  distinct  types  of  man,  ....  185 
Arbitrary  arrangement  of  the  assigned  limits,  ....  186 
Alleged  correspondence  between  the  special  faunae  of  different  zoological  prov- 
inces and  the  varieties  of  men  indigenous  in  these  provinces,  .  .  192 
Argument  of  Dr.  Bachman  in  opposition  to  this  statement,  .  .  .  193 
Testimony  of  Dr.  Pickering  as  to  the  birthplace  of  man,            .            .            .  194 

CHAPTER    II. 

EVIDENCES  OF  COMMUNITY  OF   ORIGIN   DERIVED   FROM   LINGUISTIC  AFFIN- 
ITIES. 

^Statement  of  the  argument,           .......  196 

Objections  of  Prof.  Agassiz,      .......  197 

Criticism  of  his  views,        ........  200 

Opinions  of  Crawfurd  in  explanation  of  the  correspondences  found   in  the 

different  Malayo-Polyncsian  tongues,        .....  203 

Opinions  of  Wm.  Humboldt,          .......  203 

Testimony  of  the  Chevalier  Bunson,     ......  209 

E.xposition  by  Prichard  of  the  kind  of  aflBnity  which  serves  to  demonstrate 

the  common  origin  of  languages,              .....  211 

Testimony  of  Ale.xander  von  Humboldt,  ......  219 

"          "   Dr.  Max  MuUcr,  .......  221 

"  "   the  ClievaliLM- Bunscn,         .  .  .  .  .  .223 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

CHAPTER    III. 

OBJECTIONS   CONSIDERED. 

PAOE. 
§  1.  Modes  of  accounting  for  the  observed  distribution  of  the  races. 

Possibility  of  accounting  for  the  actual  distribution  b}'  means  of  dispersion 

from  a  single  birthplace,        .......      236 

Diversities  of  climate  considered  with  reference  to  man's  susceptibility  of  ac- 
climation, ....  ....  237 

Man's  reputed  birthplace  is  also  the  native  country  of  the  domesticated  ani- 
mals and  plants  which  follow  man  in  his  migrations,  .  .  .      23S 

Gradual  acclimation  possible  when  sudden  change  of  climate  would  be  detri- 
mental,       .........  239 

Modes  of  dispersion  used  in  early  stages  of  society,        ....      343 

Testimony  of  Lieut.  Maury  on  this  puiut  and  on  the  Asiatic  origin  of  the 

American  races,       .  .  .  .     •       .  .  .  .  247 

Testimony  of  Dr.  Pickering,   ........      256 

§  2.  Intellectual  and  Jloral  diversity  of  races. 

Such  diversity  not  inconsistent  with  community  of  descent,  .  .  261 

Adaptation  of  the  Christian  religion  to  all  races  and  conditions,  .  .  262 

Hugh  Miller's  testimony  as  to  the  permanent  inequality  of  the  races,        .  264 
Influence  of  domestic  servitude  on  the  improvement  of  the  African  race  in 

America, 266 

^  3.  Geological  objections  cite<l  and  refuted. 

Geological  argument  in  favor  of  the  recent  origin  of  man,  as  stated  by  Bishop 

Berkeley  and  emphatically  endorsed  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell,        .  .  268 

Statement  of  the  opposite  opinions  by  the  authors  of  the  "  Types  of  Mankind,"      270 
Testimony  of  Sir  Charles  Lyell  and  Prof.  R.  Owen,     ....  271 

§  4.  Chronological  objections  cited  and  examined. 
Dr.  Nott's  argument  founded  on  the  monumental  inscriptions  of  Egypt,  .      273 

Kenrick's  "  Ancient  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,"  cited  in  reply  to  the  dog- 
matic assertions  of  Nott  and  Gliddon,       .....  275 


CHAPTER   IV. 

CRITICAL  NOTICE  OF  THE  TONE  AND  SPIRIT  OP  THE  PAPERS  IN  "  TYPES 
OP  mankind"  — SUMMARY  RECAPITULATION  OF  THE  ARGUMENT— CON- 
CLUSION. 

Unwarrantable  dogmatism  of  the  authors  of  "  Types  of  Mankind,"     .            .  281 
Tlieir  avowed  and  inveterate  infidelity,            .....  282 
Testimony  of  Prof.  Dana  to  the  consistency  of  the  Mosaic  and  geological  rec- 
ords of  creation,           ........  284 


VUl  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Testimony  of  Prof.  Guyot,         .......  285 

"         "   President  Hitchcock,    .        .  .  .  .  .  .285 

"         "   C.  D'Orbigny  and  A.  Gente,  .....  286 

Views  of  certain  eminent  naturalists  respecting  the  specific  relations  of  the 
human  races  presented  in  an  incorrect  light  by  the  authors  of  "  Tj'pes  of 
Mankind,"         .........      288 

Dr.  Nott's  summary  of  "  deductions  "  as  to  the  testimony  of  science  on  the 

question  of  the  specific  relations  of  the  races  of  men,  cited  and  refuted,        292 

Eiiumeration  of  leading  men  of  science  who  advocate  the  doctrine  of  the 

Unity  of  Mankind,  ........  293 

Relation  of  this  doctrine  to  the  office  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  .  .      303 


APPENDIX  A.     Note  to  page  36. 
On  the  influences  which  determine  the  production  of  Varieties,  .  .      309 


APPENDIX  B.     Note  to  page  58. 

The  doctrine  of  the  existence  of  Permanent  Varieties  sustained  by  the  citation 
of  passages  from  T.  Vernon  WoUaston's  treatise  "  On  the  Variation  of 
Species,"  .........      312 


APPENDIX  C.     Note  to  page  139. 

On  the  average  duration  of  human  life  among  different  races,  .  .  .      320 

On  the  epoch  of  the  first  menstruation  among  difTerent  races,         .  .  323 


APPENDIX  D.     Note  to  page  155. 
The  psychological  unity  of  different  races  illustrated  by  examples,      .  .       326 

APPENDIX  E.     Note  to  page  184.  331 

APPENDIX  F.     Note  to  page  298. 

Srief  reference  to  the  evidences  of  the  Uaity  of  m.inkiml  furnished  by  the 

discovery  of  the  industrial  remains  and  other  monuments  of  early  races,      333 

APPENDIX  G. 

Critical  notice  of  the  several  chapters  of  Nott  and  Gliddon's  "  Indigenous 

Races  of  the  Eiirth,"   ........      338 

Index  of  Authors,    .  .......      270 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTICE. 


Any  embarrassment  whicli  might  at  first  arise  from 
my  appearing  before  the  public  in  this  unexpected 
character  is  removed  by  the  consideration  that  these 
prefatory  remarks  are  neither  a  discussion  of  the  scien- 
tific topic,  to  which  I  certainly  have  no  vocation,  nor 
an  encomium  on  the  work  itself,  which  it  as  surely 
does  not  need.  My  humbler  object  is  to  call  attention 
to  the  important  matter  in  hand,  and  to  recommend 
this  line  of  inquiry  to  the  friends  of  religion,  to  theo- 
logical students,  and  to  my  younger  brethren  in  the 
sacred  office. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  Lord  Bacon,  that  as  the 
boundaries  and  physical  peculiarities  of  any  geographi- 
cal canton  are  best  described  by  one  who  looks  upon 
them  from  the  top  of  some  neighboring  mountain,  so 
no  one  can  adequately  discern  the  limits  and  contents 
of  his  own  science  or  profession,  who  does  not  take  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  it  from  the  eminences  of  some  other 

I*  [ix] 


X  INTRODUCTORY. 

field  of  knowledge.  The  sciences  may  be  kept  in  too 
much  insulation.  Physical  philosophers  may  abstract 
themselves  from  the  entire  domain  of  moral  and  relig- 
ious truth ;  while,  in  return,  theologians,  with  a  min- 
gled fear  and  pride,  may  turn  away  with  disgust  from 
discoveries  attained  iu  the  realm  of  nature.  It  cannot 
be  too  often  said,  that  both  are  volumes  from  the  hand 
of  the  same  Author. 

In  regard  to  ministers  of  the  gospel,  it  is  undoubt- 
edlv  true,  that  their  training  and  the  nature  of  their 
pursuits  keep  them  remarkably  distant  from  the 
natural  sciences ;  into  which  if  they  sometimes  divert, 
it  is  from  a  strong  individual  bias,  or  for  purposes  of 
entertainment.  This  is  said  with  a  full  recollection  of 
those  eminent  clerical  savans  who  have  illustrated  the 
paths  of  scientific  deduction  and  discovery,  but  who, 
in  the  same  proportion,  and  for  good  reason,  have 
withdrawn  themselves  from  theological  research,  and 
from  the  work  of  the  pulpit.  The  consequences  of 
this  entire  separation  of  territories  have  been  unfor- 
tunate. Mutual  ignorance  and  misapprehension  have 
sprung  up.  Eoom  has  been  given  for  professional 
rivalry^  and  for  that  vaunting  of  one  science  over 
another,  which  is  stigmatized  by  Aristotle.  Whereas, 
all  the  while,  a  more  generous  familiarity  with  the 
condition  of  each  other  would    bo   strcns-thcnino-    to 

o  o 

both.     The  metaphysical,  linguistical  and  hermeneuti- 


I  N  T  E  O  I)  U  C  T  O  R  Y  .  XI 

cal  studies  of  clergymen,  will  always  be  demanded  by 
tbeir  profession ;  but  it  is  higb  time  that  tbey  were 
more  generally  disciplined  in  those  sciences  which 
daily  more  and  more  afford  corroboration  to  the  Sacred 
Oracles. 

At  a  hasty  glance,  nothing  seems  more  remote  from 
the  concerns  of  religion,  than  the  structure  of  our 
globe,  the  succession  of  its  animated  tribes,  past  and 
present,  and  the  families  and  dispersions  of  mankind. 
And  in  this  superficial  misapprehension,  there  are 
some  who  live  and  die ;  yet  nothing  more  is  needed  to 
dissipate  such  a  prepossession,  than  a  careful  study  of 
the  Scriptures  themselves.  The  books  of  Moses  open 
with  creation  and  cosmogony.  The  Deluge  and  its 
results  occupy  a  large  space  in  these  earliest  annals. 
The  ethnographic  details  of  the  tenth  chapter  of  Gene- 
sis show  us  how  the  "  nations  were  divided  in  the  earrti, 
after  the  flood."  And  it  has  often  struck  me  as  the 
very  grandest  sanction  which  could  be  given  to  such 
studies,  that  when,  in  patriarchal  days,  Jehovah  inter- 
poses to  adjudicate  between  Job  and  his  friends,  and 
utters  his  voice  from  the  whirlwind,  he  draws  his 
arguments  and  illustrations  from  Natural  History. 
For,  after  adducing  the  earth  and  ocean,  Arcturus, 
Orion  and  the  Pleiades,  he  presents  to  view  the  wild 
goats,  hinds  and  rhinoceros,  the  peacock,  stork  and 
ostrich,  the  hawk  and  the  eagle ;    he  largely  depicts 


Xii  INTRODUCTORY. 

behemoth  and  leviathan,  and  with  this  absolutely 
closes  the  divine  discourse.  This  induction  of  par- 
ticulars fills  four  entire  chapters.  Nothing  could  be  a 
more  unanswerable  vindication  of  what  our  fathers 
were  wont  to  call  Physico-Theology. 

Unspeakable  interest  has  been  conferred  upon  cer- 
tain fields  of  scientific  inquiry,  by  the  relation  which 
they  have  come  to  bear  to  Apologetics.  The  defences 
of  our  common  Christianity  have  been  compelled  into 
new  dispositions,  by  the  altered  methods  of  attack 
employed  by  adversaries.  This  will  instantly  be 
recognized  as  true  of  Astronomical  Cosmogony,  of 
Geology,  of  Ethnology,  and  of  the  doctrine  of  Eaces. 
The  work  before  us  concerns  the  last  two  departments 
of  knowledge.  The  teachings  of  Scripture  have  been 
assailed  from  several  quarters,  sometimes  with  the  fan- 
faronade of  a  knowledge  not  possessed,  and  sometimes 
with  the  misapplication  of  genuine,  extraordinary 
science.  The  faith  of  many  was  shaken,  as  well  by 
the  "Vestiges  of  Creation,"  which,  however,  found  a 
speedy  quietus,  as  by  the  array  of  investigators  who 
denied  the  proper  unity  of  our  species.  This  was  not 
a  mere  question  of  natural  science.  The  specific  unity 
of  the  races  is  concerned  in  the  doctrine  of  salvation: 
in  the  fall  of  Adam  and  the  Redemption  of  Christ. 
It  was  not  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  the  nature 
which  fell  in  Eden,  was  that  whidi  we  inheiit,  and 


I  N  T  II  O  I)  r  C  T  O  R  Y .  xin 


whether  the  humanity  which  Jesus  bore  upon  the 
cross  and  carried  into  heaven,  was  that  of  all  man- 
kind. And  hence,  the  universal  Christian  body,  so 
far  as  imbued  with  any  tincture  of  science,  was  startled 
and  grieved  at  the  position  taken  up  by  Professor 
Agassiz.  These  are  the  stirring  problems  which  are 
attempted  in  the  woi'k  before  us. 

The  Author  approaches  the  subject  entirely  from 
the  scientific  side.  For  this  his  daily  investigations 
and  instructions  in  Comparative  Anatomy  will  be 
seen  to  have  given  him  peculiar  fitness.  ISTo  treatment 
of  these  perplexing  questions  by  preachers  or  theolog- 
ical professors  could  so  disarm  suspicion,  as  the  calm 
and  independent  research  of  a  scientific  inquirer,  who 
avowedly  pursues  his  investigation  without  previously 
determining  to  accept  the  Biblical  statements.  It  will 
give  every  ingenuous  reader  satisfaction  to  observe 
the  fairness,  courtesy  and  deference  with  which  M. 
Agassiz  is  treated,  even  when  his  hypothesis  is  shown 
to  be  untenable,  on  grounds  purely  natural.  And  not 
a  few  will  rejoice  to  find  conclusions  so  favorable  to 
Christianity  proceeding  from  one  of  the  oldest  chairs 
of  the  University  of  Virginia, — the  chief  academical 
institution  of  the  South, — at  which  yearly  five  or  six 
hundred  young  men  receive  their  impi'cssions  for  life. 
But  above  all,  the  believer  in  Eevelation  will  hail  this 
as  a  new  testim.ony  that  each  discovery  of  science, 


XIV  INTRODUCTORY. 

thougli  at  first  shuDned  as  a  foe,  will  at  lengtli  he  em- 
braced as  an  auxiliary ;  until  we  all  come  to  concur 
w  itli  the  great  dictum  of  Eichard  Bentley :  Depend 

ON  IT ;  NO  TRUTH,  NO  MATTER  OF  FACT,  FAIRLY  LAID 
OPEN,  CAN  EVER  SUBVERT  TRUE  RELIGION. 

JAMES  W.  ALEXANDER. 

New  York,  October  22,  1858. 


AUTHOK'S    PREFACE 

TO    THE    FIRST    EDITION. 


The  following  essay  is  a  republication,  witli  a  few 
■animportant  changes,  of  a  Eeview  of  ISTott  and  Glid- 
don's  "Types  of  Mankind,"  which  originally  appeared 
in  the  "Protestant  Episcopal  Review  and  Church 
Register."  The  examination  of  that  work  in  its 
claims  to  popular  acceptance,  in  so  far  as  it  aims  to 
overthrow  the  doctrine  of  human  unity,  was  under- 
taken at  the  request  of  an  honored  prelate,  who  be- 
lieved that  a  large  class  of  readers,  and  especially  of 
those  in  the  season  of  youth,  were  deceived  by  its 
bold  assumptions  and  confident  assertions  in  respect 
to  the  significance  of  modern  scientific  discoveries  on 
the  subject  of  the  distinctions  between  the  varieties 
of  the  human  race.  Being  fully  satisfied  that  the 
peculiar  views,  for  the  promulgation  of  which  that 
work  was  written,  were  in  no  degree  supported  by  the 
real  teachings  of  science,  the  present  writer  readily 
consented  to  prepare  a  summary  statement  of  the  con- 
clusions warranted  by  the  latest  discoveries  in  rela- 
tion to  the  topics  in  controversy.     Such  a  course  pre- 

[XV] 


XVi  A  U  T  II  O  K  '  S     P  K  E  F  A  C  E  . 

eluded  any  pretensions  to  set  forth  results  of  original 
researcli  on  his  own  part;  his  single  aim  being  to 
indicate  the  line  of  argument  adopted  by  the  highest 
authorities  in  questions  pertaining  to  the  philosophy  of 
Natural  History,  and  to  set  forth  the  principal  facts  on 
which  that  argument  is  based.  In  the  execution  of 
this  task  he  has  made  it  a  point,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
possibility  of  misrepresenting  his  authorities,  to  quote 
their  own  words,  as  far  at  least  as  was  consistent  with 
brevity  and  convenience 

Inasmuch  as  the  general  subject  embraces  the  con- 
sideration of  two  entirely  distinct  questions,  a  separate 
article  was  originally  assigned  to  the  discussion  of 
each,  and  the  same  form  is  retained  in  the  present 
publication.  In  Part  I.,  the  author  has  discussed  the 
question  of  the  specific  unity  or  diversity  of  the 
human  races;  and  then,  in  Part  II.,  assuming  their 
specific  identity  as  sufficiently  well  established,  he  has 
considered  the  distinct  question  of  their  origin  from 
one  or  more  centres,  or  from  one  or  more  pairs  of  pro- 
genitors. 

In  the  closing  article  (G)  of  the  Appendix,  will  be 
found  a  critical  notice  of  "The  Indigenous  Races  of 
the  Earth,"  the  last  of  the  publications  of  Nott  and 
Gliddon.  This  notice  also  was  originally  published  in 
the  journal  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  and  it 
is  considered  to  have  a  sufficientlv  close  bearing  upon 


AUTHOR    S     PREFACE.  xvii 

the  subjects  discussed  in  the  body  of  the  essay  to 
justify  its  reproduction  in  this  form.  The  other  ar- 
ticles of  the  Appendix  will  be  found  to  possess  much 
value  and  interest  as  'pieces  justijicatives,  in  their  relation 
to  the  grounds  assumed  in  the  course  of  the  argument. 

J.  L.  C. 

Unitebsitt  of  Virginia,  November,  1858. 


Part  I, 


SPECIFIC   UNITl' 


OF   ALL 


THE   RACES   OF  MEN. 


[19] 


THE   UNITY 

((uirivrKtiiTY; 


HUMAN"    SPECIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PKELIMIXAET    TOPICS DEFINITION    OF    SPECIES    AND 

VARIETIES. 

The  peculiarities  which  characterize  the  so- 
called  typical  races  of  the  human  family,  sug- 
gest topics  of  interesting  and  profitable  inquiry 
a] ike  for  the  historian,  the  moralist  and  the 
statesman  ;  whilst  the  naturalist,  looking  behind 
the  actual   phenomena,    and    investigating  the 

*  Ti/pes  of  Manldncl.  By  J.  C.  Nott,  M.  D.,  and  Geo.  R.  Gliddon. 
Second  edition.     Philadelphia.     April,  1854. 

The  3Ioral  and  Inldledital  Diversity  of  Races.  From  the  French  of 
Count  A.  de  Gobineau  ;  with  an  Analytical  Introduction  and  copi- 
ous Historical  Notes ;  by  H.  Hotz,  and  an  Appendix  containing  a 
Summary  of  the  latest  Scientific  Facts  bearing  upon  the  question  of 
Unity  or  Plurality  of  Species :  by  J.  C.  Nott,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia. 
1856 

[21] 


22  THE    U  NIT  Y    OF 

origin  and  causes  of  the  observed  diversities  of 
races,  finds  opening  before  him  a  wide  field 
of  curious  and  singularly  fascinating  speculation. 
In  such  speculations,  however,  the  specific  unity 
of  the  races  is  most  commonly  assumed  as  a 
fundamental  truth.  Until  recently,  at  least, 
this  was  the  fact  throughout  Christendom,  and 
had  the  dogma  been  challenged,  it  would  have 
been  considered  a  sufficient  vindication  of  the 
common  belief  to  allege  that  it  rests  upon  "  a 
profound  instinct  of  human  nature,"  and  that 
it  is  confirmed  by  the  express  declarations  of 
Holy  Writ. 

Of  late,  however,  it  has  been  contended  that 
the  objections  usually  lu^ged  against  the  prac- 
tice of  founding  scientific  conclusions  on  argu- 
ments derived  from  the  popular  interpretations 
of  the  Scriptures  apply  with  undiminished  force 
to  the  case  under  consideration.  Without  stop- 
ping to  inquire  into  the  validity  of  this  special 
application  of  a  general  principle,  we  remai'k 
with  respect  to  the  principle  itself,  that  its  asser- 
tion is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  enemies  of 
the  Bible.     Not  a  few  of  the  most  zealous  and 


THE    HIT  .MA  Is     SPECIES.  2 


o 


consistent  defenders  of  evangelical  Christianity 
have  earnestly  insisted  upon  the  danger  of  at- 
tempting to  demonstrate  scientific  propositions 
by  means  of  Scriptural  statements.  They  main- 
tain that  it  was  no  part  of  God's  plan  to  fore- 
stall the  results  of  scientific  inquiry  by  a  writ- 
ten revelation  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  that 
the  language  of  the  sacred  writers,  whenever 
they  allude  to  natural  phenomena,  is  to  be  in- 
terpreted as  descriptive  of  appearances,  as 
these  would  address  themselves  to  the  popular 
mind.  In  this  view  we  entirely  concur,  and  we 
are,  therefore,  ready  to  indorse  the  statement 
of  an  eminent  living  votary  of  physical  science, 
that  any  attempt  to  fetter  the  scientific  inquirer 
by  the  supposed  meaning  of  inspiration,  is  cer- 
tain to  damage  the  latter  in  the  estimation  of  a 
numerous  class  of  intelligent  and  learned  men.* 
As  was  long  ago  remarked,  with  some  license 
of  figure,  by  a  distinguished  and  orthodox 
theologian.  Dr.  Henry  More,  "  the  unskilful 
insisting  of  our  divines  upon  the  literal  sense 

*  W.  B.  Carpenter— "  Varieties  of  Mankind;"  in  the  English  Cy- 
clopaedia of  Anatomy  and  I'hysiology. 


24  T  U  E    U  M  1  T  Y    0  F 

of  Moses,  has  bred  many  huiidi-ed  iliousaiids  of 
atheists.''  To  illustrate  this  statement,  there  is 
no  need  to  reproduce  the  trite  taunt  about  Gal- 
ileo, or  to  refer  to  any  other  case  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal prohibition  of  free  scientific  inquiry  occurring 
in  an  age  less  enlightened  than  the  present. 
Numerous  iUustrations,  derived  from  controver- 
sies of  our  own  day,  furnish  a  salutary  lesson  to 
those  who  might  be  disposed  to  dogmatize  on 
the  method  of  reconciling  the  assumed  teach- 
ings  of  Scripture  with  the  apparent  revelations 
of  science.  If  theologians  rashly  stake  the 
authority  of  the  Bible  on  the  adoption  of  a  par- 
ticular set  of  scientific  opinions,  each  of  which 
they  hold  to  be  the  "  articulus  stantis  aut  ca- 
dentis  ecclesias,''  they  should  not  be  surprised 
if  the  exclusive  votaries  of  science,  accepting 
the  issue  thus  inconsiderately  presented,  should 
come  to  regard  with  aversion  a  theology  asso- 
ciated, as  they  have  been  led  to  believe,  with 
propositions  which  they  know  to  be  both  false 
and  absurd.  And  thus  it  often  happens,  even 
at  the  present  day,  that  the  premature  alarms 
of  the  timid  friends  of  our  holy  religion,  and 


THE    HUMAN    STECIES.  25 

their  denunciations  of  free  scientific  inquiry,  be- 
come the  determining  cause  of  the  very  infi- 
deUty  they  would  deprecate.  It  behooves  us, 
therefore,  in  view  of  the  interests  of  our  sacred 
cause  no  less  than  the  independent  and  legiti- 
mate claims  of  science,  to  be  very  cautious  how 
we  build  up  scientific  dogmas  on  the  popular 
sense  of  the  Scriptures.  We  would,  on  the 
contrary,  allow  the  utmost  freedom  of  inquiry 
to  the  explorer  of  scientific  truth,  being  quite 
satisfied  that  whatever  conclusions  he  may  suc- 
ceed in  establishing  on  reliable  evidence,  must 
in  the  end  be  found  to  harmonize  with  the  re- 
vealed word  of  God ;  and  that,  precisely  because 
they  shall  have  been  settled  on  evidence  inde- 
pendent of  the  Scriptures,  the  demonstration  of 
their  conformity  with  the  teachings  of  the  Bible 
will  furnish  so  many  new  tests  of  its  divine  ori- 
gin and  authority. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  can  scarcely  be  neces- 
sary to  insist  that  if  it  be  unwise  and  unsafe 
for  the  mere  theologian  to  meddle  with  ques- 
tions of  science,  so  by  a  parity  of  reason  the 
mere  man  of  science  should  confine  himself  to 
2 


26  THE     JNIVY    OF 

his  proper  calling,  and  leave  to  those  versed  in 
the  principles  of  Biblical  exegesis,  the  task  of 
interpreting  the  Scriptures,  and  thus,  inciden- 
tally, of  setting  forth  the  harmony  which  must 
ever  subsist  between  the  two  revelations  which 
God  has  been  pleased  to  give  to  his  intelligent 
creatures,  in  his  works  and  in  his  written  word. 
We  assume,  of  course,  that  God  has  just  as 
certainly  spoken  to  us  by  the  word  of  inspira- 
tion, as  he  has  revealed  himself  in  the  works 
of  nature.  This  is  now  generally  conceded. 
Modern  infidelity,  more  refined  and  more  learn- 
ed than  that  of  the  last  century,  rejects  with 
scorn  the  old  charge  of  imposture  and  fraud, 
and  only  assails  the  principles  of  interpreting 
the  sacred  volume  which  are  adopted  by  ortho- 
dox believers.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that  the  genuineness,  authenticity,  and  plenary 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  consequently 
their  claim  to  be  considered  as  an  authoritative 
rule  of  faith  and  practice,  are  established  on 
evidence  so  various  and  so  convincing,  that  it 
would  argue  a  very  unstable  mind  to  become 
unsettled  in  its  belief  on  any  of  these  points 


THE     HUMAN    SPECIES.  27 

by  disputable  opinions  respecting  complex  and 
doubtful  questions  in  natural  science.  The  most 
timid  and  fearful  Christian  may,  then,  take 
courasre  and  abide  the  final  result  with  unwav- 
ering  confidence.  God  will  take  care  of  his 
own  truth.  If  during  the  interval  of  probation 
it  be  found  necessary  to  modify,  to  some  extent, 
long  cherished  views  as  to  the  proper  interpre- 
tation of  certain  passages  of  Scripture,  this  is 
no  more  than  was,  in  the  nature  of  ilrings,  to 
be  expected,  and  is  just  what  has  often  occurred 
in  former  stages  of  the  history  of  Biblical  learn- 
ing, to  the  ultimate  benefit  of  religion,  which 
suffered  disparagement  in  the  process,  only  be- 
cause errors  were  retained  so  long  and  so  tena- 
ciously, and  not  because  they  were  ultimately 
avoided  by  a  more  accurate  Biblical  criticism. 

We  have  thought  proper  to  make  these  pre- 
liminary remarks,  partly  because  we  have  rea- 
son to  fear  that  many  well-meaning  but,  in  our 
estimation,  injudicious  friends  of  religion  need 
to  be  forewarned  that  in  obstinately  assailing 
scientific  inquirers  with  the  edicts  of  the  Church, 
they  only  damage  the  good  cause  which  it  is 


28  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    O  F 

their  wish  and  purpose  to  defend,  but  chiefly 
because  we  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  these 
principles  shall  govern  us  in  the  inquiry,  upon 
which  we  now  propose  to  enter,  respecting  the 
specific  unity  and  common  origin  of  the  various 
races  of  mankind.  In  pursuing  this  inquiry, 
we  shall,  in  conformity  with  the  rules  more  or 
less  distinctly  indicated  in  the  foregoing  re- 
marks, set  aside  for  the  present  the  testimony 
of  Scri;;.Lure,  and  treat  the  whole  question  as 
one  of  pure  science.  We  propose  to  show  that 
the  leading  authorities  in  science  so  far  from 
contradicting  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible  with  re- 
spect to  man's  unity  of  nature  and  parentage, 
do,  in  point  of  fact,  arrive  at  the  same  conclu- 
sion on  grounds  purely  scientific,  and  thus  are 
in  complete  accord  with  St.  Paul  when  he  de- 
clares that  "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
the  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face 
of  the  earth." 

Tn  discussing  this  question,  we  find  a  source 
of  embarrassment  at  the  very  threshold,  in  the 
want  of  such  a  definition  of  the  term  species,  as 
shall  satisfy  the  disputants  on  the  two  sides  of 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  29 

this  controversy.  Cuvier's  deliiiition  seems  to 
us  unexceptionable,  ana  yet  it  does  not  appear 
to  have  given  entire  satisfaction  to  others.  Ac- 
cording to  this  definition  "  a  species  is  a  collec- 
tion of  all  the  beings  descended  the  one  from 
the  other,  or  from  common  parents,  and  of  those 
ivhich  hear  as  dose  a  resemhlance  to  these  as  they 
hear  to  each  other P  In  like  manner  De  Candolle 
says,  ''we  unite  under  the  designation  of  a 
species  all  those  individuals  who  mutually  bear 
to  each  other  so  close  a  resemblance  as  to  allow 
of  our  supposing  that  they  may  have  proceeded 
originally  from  a  single  heing  or  a  single  pair^ 
Let  it  be  observed  that  neither  of  these  defini- 
tions asserts  that  all  the  individuals  of  a  species 
must  have  sprung  from  the  same  original  parents. 
We  admit  that  to  insert  this  in  our  definition 
would  be  a  petitio  principii.  The  definitions 
only  affirm  that  specific  identity  implies  such  a 
resemblance  in  kind  and  degree  as  is  exhibited 
among  descendants  from  a  common  stock.  And 
yet  for  the  reason  that  they  suggest  the  idea  of 
community  of  descent  among  all  the  individuals 
composing  a  species,  those  who  deny  this   com- 


30  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

munity  of  descent  are  averse  to  making  use  of 
thein,  and  prefer  the  formula  of  Dr.  Morton, 
which,  as  will  be  presently  seen,  has  no  real  ad- 
vantage. It  is  well  known  that  Prof.  Agassiz, 
without  at  first  denying  the  specific  unity  of 
mankind,  earnestly  maintained  that  men  were 
created  in  nations  and  with  such  original  diver- 
sities as  are  now  found  to  characterize  the  typi- 
cal races.  In  other  words,  while  he  admitted 
that  there  was  but  one  species  of  men,  he  re- 
cognized a  number  of  original  varieties  or  dis- 
tinct types  of  the  same  specific  nature.  Here 
the  fundamental  idea  of  the  term  is  that  of 
close  correspondence  in  governing  qualities, 
or  substantial  identity  of  nature.  And  this 
too  appears  to  us  to  be  an  unobjectionable  defi- 
nition, as  not  assuming  any  disputed  point. 
This  definition  determines  nothing  as  to  what 
may  be  the  tests  of  such  essential  unity,  or  what 
may  be  the  limits  of  variation  compatible  with 
this  identity  of  specific  nature,  but  leaves  all 
such  points  for  subsequent  investigation.  And 
this  is  just  as  it  should  be,  if  we  would  avoid  the 
fallacy  of  reasoning  in  a  vicious  circle.     More 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  31 

recently,  this  eminent  naturalist,  while  advocat- 
ing substantially  the  same  doctrines,  has  so 
altered  the  meaning  of  the  terms  as  to  desig- 
nate his  original  types  as  so  many  distinct 
species.  We  say  that  his  opinions  are  yet  vir- 
tually the  same,  for  he  still  earnestly  maintains 
the  "  unity  of  mankind,"  and  declares  that 
"  whosoever  will  consult  history  must  remain  sat- 
isfied that  the  moral  question  of  brotherhood 
among  men  is  not  any  more  affected  by  these 
views  than  the  direct  obligations  between  im- 
mediate blood  relations."  He  has  thus  adopted 
the  definition  of  Dr.  Morton,  who  describes  a 
species  to  be  ''  a  primordial  organic  form,"  and 
determines  any  given  forjn  to  be  primordial  by 
its  permanency  as  proved  by  history.  A  dis- 
tinguished American  zoologist,  whose  special 
studies  have  given  him  much  practice  in  the  dis- 
crimination of  species  among  the  higher  classes 
of  vertebrated  animals,  Dr.  Bachman  of  Charles- 
ton, objects  to  this  definition  as  "a  cunning 
device,  and  to  all  intents  an  ex  post  facto  law." 
We  may  observe,  however,  that  the  objection 
applies  not  so  much  to  the  definition   properly 


32  THEUNITIOF 

understood,  for  in  a  certain  sense  we  believe  it 
to  be  a  true  description,  as  to  an  illogical  per- 
version of  the  historical  test,  which,  under  cover 
of  a  certain  ambiguity  in  the  terms  of  the  defi- 
nition, is  rendered  possible  and  easy.  We  con- 
cede the  fact  that  a  species  is  a  primordial 
organic  form,  and  if  the  records  of  history, 
written  or  monumental,  extended  back  to  the 
first  creation  of  species,  they  would  at  once 
decide  the  question  as  to  what  types  wei'e  prim- 
ordial. But  inasmuch  as  certain  acquired  pecu- 
liarities are  often  reproduced  with  perfect  regu- 
larity so  as  to  give  rise,  within  the  limits  of  a 
single  original  species,  to  '' varieties  ^^  marked 
by  characters  as  ''  permanent  ^^  as  those  which 
distinguish  the  species  itself,  it  is  obvious  that 
unless  the  historical  records  extend  back  to  such 
a  period  as  wholly  to  preclude  the  idea  of  the 
appearance  of  variations  between  the  first  cre- 
ation of  the  species  and  the  date  of  the  records, 
they  furnish  no  satisfactory  test  whatever.  We 
shall  presently  have  occasion  to  dwell  at  greater 
length  on  this  point,  which  is  an  important  one 
in  the  controversy.     We  advert   to   it  in   this 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  33 

connection  only  to  show  that  while  the  much 
vaunted  definition  of  Dr.  Morton  may  be  true 
in  substance,  it  is  yet  no  better  than  Cuvier's, 
and  its  use  in  a  controversy  like  the  present  is 
objectionable,  on  the  ground  of  its  deceptive 
ambiguity.''' 

■--  Since  the  original  publication  of  this  paper  in  the  "  Protestant 
Episcopal  Review,"  for  January,  1857,  the  general  subject  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  species  has  engaged  the  attention  of  one  of  the  first  natu- 
ralists of  the  age.  We  allude  to  Prof.  Dana,  of  Yale  Collge,  who  read 
a  paper  entitled  "Thoughts  on  Species"  at  the  Eleventh  Annual  Meet- 
ing  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  held 
at  Montreal  in  August,  1857,  which  paper  was  subsequently  reprinted 
in  the  "  Biljliotheca  Sacra  "  for  October  of  the  same  year.  He  objects 
to  any  definition  of  the  term  "species"  that  involves  the  idea  of  a 
group.  The  idea  of  a  group,"  he  holds,  ''is  not  essential ;  and  moreover, 
it  tends  to  confuse  the  mind  by  bringing  before  it,  in  the  outset,  the 
endless  diver^ties  in  individuals,  and  suggesting  numberless  questions 
that  vary  in  answer  for  each  kingdom,  class,  or  subordinate  group.  It 
is  better  to  approach  tiie  subject  from  a  profounder  point  of  view,  search 
for  the  true  idea  of  distinction  among  species,  and  then  proceed  onward 
to  a  consideration  of  the  sj-stems  of  variables."  He  then  proceeds  to 
show  that  "  a  species  among  hving  as  well  as  inorganic  beings,  is  based 
on  a  specific  amount  or  condition  of  conceniraied  force  defined  in  tlu  act  or  law 
of  creation."  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  this  definition  is  not  only 
accurate,  but  is  moreover  as  free  from  difficulties  in  the  application  of 
it  with  a  view  to  the  discrimination  of  species,  as  can  be  predicated  of 
any  other  definition  which  does  not  assume  a  disputed  point.  We 
shall  in  the  sequel  notice  the  conclusions  of  this  eminent  naturalist  re- 
specting the  permanence  of  species,  the  susceptibility  and  Hmits  of 
variafiion,  and  the  collateral  topics  of  the  origin  of  species  fi-om  one  or 
more  centre.s,  and  of  their  birth  from  one  or  more  pairs  of  progenitors.* 

*  We  have  been  much  surprised  to  find  that  many  readers  (of  the  first  edition  of 
this  book)  have  experienced  some  embarrassment  in  relation  to  the  significance  of 

2* 


34  THEUNITYOF 

Adojoting  the  definition  already  stated,  the 
first  question  to  which  we  shall  address  our- 
selves, has  respect  to  the  capacity  for  variations 
exhibited  by  many  species  under  favorable  con- 
ditions. The  law  of  the  permanency  of  pri- 
mordial forms  is  admitted  on  all  hands  to  be 
subject  to  qualifications.     Within  certain  limits, 

Prof.  Dana's  definition  of  species  as  given  in  the  foregoing  note.  We  cannot  but 
think  that  all  difficulty  would  have  been  removed  had  they  read  with  attention 
his  own  explanations  as  cited  in  Appendix  B,  a  part  of  which  we  now  transfer  so 
as  to  present  it  in  connection  with  the  general  discussion  of  definitions  of  species. 
He  first  shows  that  in  the  inorganic  or  mineral  kingdom  "  each  element  is  repre- 
sented by  a  specific  amount  or  law  of  force,  and  that  we  even  set  down  in  numbers 
the  precise  value  of  this  force  as  regards  one  of  the  deepest  of  its  qualities,  chemi- 
cal attraction,"  and  then  turning  to  the  organic  world,  deduces  the  same  idea  as 
essential  to  species,  from  the  following  considerations  :  "  The  individual  is  involved 
in  the  germ-cell  from  which  it  proceeds.  That  cell  posse_sses  certain  inherent  quali- 
ties or  powers,  bearing  a  definite  relation  to  external  nature,  so  that  when  having  its 
appropriate  nidus  or  surrounding  conditions,  it  will  grow  and  develop  out  each  organ 
nnd  member  to  the  completed  result ;  and  this  both  as  to  chemical  changes,  and  the 
evolution  of  the  structure  which  belongs  to  it  as  subordinate  to  some  kingdom, 
class,  order,  genus. and  species  in  nature.  The  germ-cell  of  an  organic  being  de- 
velopes  a  specific  result  ;  and  like  the  molecule  of  oxygen,  it  must  correspond  to  a 
measured  quota  or  specific  law  of  force.  We  cannot,  indeed,  apply  the  measure  as 
in  the  inorganic  kingdom,  for  we  have  learned  no  method  or  unit  of  comparison. 
But  it  must  nevertheless  be  true  that  a  specific  predetermined  amount  or  condition 
or  law  of  force  is  an  equivalent  of  every  germ-cell  in  the  kingdom  of  life.  We  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  there  is  but  one  kind  of  force  ;  but  that  whatever  the  kind  or 
kinds,  it  has  a  numerical  value  or  law,  although  human  arithmetic  may  never  give 
It  expression.  A  species,  then,  among  living  beings  as  well  as  among  inorganic 
bodies,  is  based  upon  a  specific" {i.  e.,  definite  in  kind  and  quantity)  "  ammmt  or  con- 
dilion  of  concentrated  force  defined  in  the  act  or  law  of  creation." 

This  definition,  as  observed  by  Prof.  Dana  himself,  is  tantamount  to  that  of  Dr. 
Morton  when  rightly  understood.  But  there  is  this  important  distinction,  that  while 
Dr.  Morton's  formula  expresses  the  outward  manifestation,  Prof.  Dana's  goes  back 
of  this  to  the  consideration  of  the  potential  element  or  essential  cause. 

"  When  individuals,"  says  Prof.  Dana,  "  multiply  from  generation  to  generation. 
It  is  but  the  repetition  of  the  primordial  type-idea  ;  and  the  true  notion  of  the  species 
is  not  in  the  group,  but  in  the  idea  or  potential  element  which  is  at  the  basis  of 
every  individual  of  the  group." 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  35 

it  adapts  itself  to  various  changes  in  the  in- 
fluences under  which  the  race  may  subsist. 
Thus,  by  carefully  changing  the  food  and  other 
agents  of  vital  stimulation,  we  may  modify,  to 
an  extent  sometimes  quite  considerable,  the 
outward  structural  character  of  many  plants 
and  low  animal  organisms  ;  and  these  newly 
acquired  characters  may  then  be  perpetuated 
by  hereditary  transmission,  under  the  influence 
of  the  law  of  assimilation  between  parent  and 
offspring,  even  though  the  causes  which  origin- 
ally determined  the  variation  from  the  primitive 
type  have  ceased  to  operate.  A  similar  effect 
is  produced  in  those  cases  in  which  a  given 
A^ariation  appears  accidentally  in  a  single  in- 
dividual and  is  then  transmitted  to  his  offspring. 
This  is  conspicuously  exemplified  in  the  human 
races  by  a  strong  tendency  to  the  transmission, 
throughout  large  families,  of  characters  whether 
physical  or  moral,  which  had  originated  as  acci- 
dental peculiarities  in  one  of  the  ancestors  of 
the  stock.  Such  individual  peculiarities  are 
commonly  lost  after  a  time  by  reason  of  the 
successive    admixture    of   new    elements ;   but 


36  THEUNITYOF 

when  persons  of  both  sexes  all  possess  some 
striking  peculiarity,  and  intermarry  among 
themselves,  the  peculiar  characters  tend  to 
become  constant.  In  other  words,  a  perma- 
nent variety  is  likely  to  arise.  A  permanent 
variety,  as  distinguished  from  a  species,  is,  then, 
a  group  of  individuals  marked  by  the  constant 
reproduction  of  some  distinctive  character, 
which,  however,  may  be  shown  to  have  been 
acquired  in  addition  to  the  typical  characters 
of  the  species  within  the  limits  of  which  this 
and,  it  may  be,  other  varieties  also  have  arisen. 
Varieties,  therefore,  while  in  their  origin  they 
constitute  an  apparent  or  partial  exception 
to  the  law  of  assimilation  between  parent  and 
offspring,  do  yet  by  their  permanent  repro- 
duction exemplify  the  full  operation  of  that 
law.* 

The  existence  of  permanent  varieties  so  com- 
pletely refutes  some  of  the  most  essential  argu- 
ments used  by  modern  advocates  of  the  original 
diversity  of  the  human  races,  that  they  are 
driven  to  the   necessity  of  denying  the   possi- 

"  See  Appendix  A. 


T  H  E    U  U  M  A  N    S  r  E  C  I  E  S  .  37 

bility  of  the  phenomenon  altogether.  We 
shall,  therefore,  present  an  abstract  of  the 
evidence  on  which  the  assertion  has  been  sub- 
stantiated. And  first  we  shall  refer  to  one  or 
two  well  authenticated  instances,  in  which  cer- 
tain congenital  characters,  originating  as  acci- 
dental peculiarities,  have  been  reproduced  in 
the  offspring  through  successive  generations,  so 
as  ultimately  to  represent  the  distinctive  fea- 
tures of  a  new  and  permanent  variety.  This 
law  of  the  animal  economy  is  so  familiar  to 
breeders  of  valuable  animals,  that  we  are  at  no 
loss  to  multiply  examples  derived  from  their 
attempts  to  improve  their  stocks.  Let  a  few 
suffice, 

"In  the  year  1791,  one  ewe  on  the  farm  of 
Seth  Wright,  gave  birth  to  a  male  lamb,  which, 
without  any  known  cause,  had  a  larger  body 
and  shorter  legs  than  the  rest  of  the  breed. 
The  joints  are  said  to  have  been  longer,  and  the 
fore-legs  crooked.  The  shape  of  this  animal 
rendering  it  unable  to  leap  the  fences,  it  was 
determined  to  propagate  its  peculiarities,  and 
the  experiment  proved  successful  ;  a  new  race 


S8  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

of  sheep  was  produced,  which,  from  the  form 
of  the  body,  has  been  termed  the  Otter  breed. 
It  seems  to  be  uniformly  the  fact,  that  when 
both  parents  ate  of  the  Otter  breed,  the  lambs 
that  are  produced  inherit  the  peculiar  form. 
Only  one  case  has  been  reported  as  an  exception 
to  this  remark,  and  that  was  questionable."* 

In  Darwin's  "  Yoyage  of  a  Naturalist,"  we 
find  the  following  account  of  a  singular  breed 
of  cattle,  which  have  originated  among  tho' 
Indians  south  of  the  "Rio  Plata,  in  the  Banda 
Oriental,  and  which  is  called  the  Niata  breed. 
"  They  appear  externally  to  hold  nearly  the 
same  relation  to  other  cattle,  which  bull-dogs 
hold  to  other  dogs.  Their  forehead  is  very 
short  and  broad,  with  the  nasal  end  turned  up, 
and  the  upper  lip  much  drawn  back  ;  their 
lower  jaws  project  outwards  ;  when  walking, 
they  carry  their  heads  low  on  a  short  neck,  and 
their  hinder  legs  are  rather  longer,  compared 
with  the  front  legs,  than  is  usual.  Their  bare 
teeth,  their  short  heads,  and  upturned  nostrils, 
give  them  the  most  ludicrous  self-confident  air 

*  Natural  Histor}-  of  Man.     B}-  J.  C.  Prichard.    London,  1843.    P.  45. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.       ^        <-.39 


of  defiance  imaginable.  Since  my  return,  I 
have  procured  a  skeleton  head,  through  the 
kindness  of  my  friend  Captain  Sullivan,  R.  N., 
which  is  now  deposited  in  the  College  of  Sur- 
geons.* Don  F.  Muniz,  of  Luxan,  has  kindly 
collected  for  me  all  the  information  which  he 
could  respecting  this  breed.  From  his  account, 
it  seems  that  about  eighty  or  ninety  years  ago 
they  were  rare,  and  kept  as  curiosities  at 
Buenos  Ayres.  The  breed  is  universally  be- 
lieved to  have  originated  amongst  the  Indians 
southward  of  the  Plata,  and  it  was  with  them 
of  the  commonest  kind.  Even  to  this  day, 
those  reared  in  the  provinces  near  the  Plata 
show  their  less  civilized  origin,  in  being  fiercer 
than  common  cattle,  and  in  the  cow  easily 
deserting  her  first  calf,  if  visited  too  often  or 
molested.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  an  almost 
similar  structure  to  the  abnormal  one  of  the 
Niata  breed  characterizes,  as  I  am  informed  by 
Dr.  Falconer,  that  great  extinct  ruminant  of 
India,    the    Sivatherium.     The    breed   is   very 

*  "  Mr.  Waterliouse  has  drawn  up  a  detailed   description  of  this 
head,  which  I  hope  he  will  pub'ish  in  some  journal  " 


40  T  II  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

true  ;  and  a  Niata  bull  and  cow  invariably  pro- 
duce Niata  calves.  A  Niata  bull  with  a  com- 
mon cow,  or  the  reverse  cross,  produces  off- 
spring having  an  intermediate  character  ;  but 
with  the  Niata  characters  strongly  displaj^ed. 
During  great  droughts,  when  so 
many  animals  perish,  the  Niata  breed  is  under 
a  great  disadvantage,  and  would  be  extermi- 
nated if  not  attended  to  ;  for  the  common  cat- 
tle, like  horses,  are  able  just  to  keep  alive  by 
browsing  with  their  lips  on  twigs  of  trees  and 
reeds  ;  this  the  Niatas  cannot  so  well  do,  as 
their  lips  do  not  join,  and  hence  they  are  found 
to  perish  before  the  common  cattle.  This 
strikes  me  as  a  good  illustration  of  how  little 
we  are  able  to  judge  from  the  ordinary  habits 
of  life,  on  what  circumstances,  occurring  only 
at  long  intervals,  the  rarity  or  extinction  of  a 
species  may  be  determined."* 

Dr.  Bachman,  having  cited  a  part  of  the  fore- 
going passage,  makes  the  following  pertinent 
comment:   "  We  have  here  another  example  in 

^  Charles  Darwin,  M.  A.,  F.  R.  S.   Voyage  of  a  Naturalist  round  the 
World.     New  York,  1855.     V&l.  I.,  pp.  180-187. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  41 

evidence  of  the  fact,  that  without  the  shghtest 
mtermixture  of  foreign  varieties,  new  breeds 
of  cattle  spring  up  in  America.  They  made 
their  first  appearance  about  eighty  years  ago, 
when  one  was  occasionally  brought  to  Buenos 
Ayres.  Now  they  have  become  the  only  race 
in  an  immense  region  of  country,  where  they 
are  nearly  wild.  What  causes  have  operated 
to  produce  this  variety  ?  There  are  no  wild 
animals,  not  even  the  buffalo,  in  that  country, 
from  which  any  admixture  could  by  any 
possibility  have  been  derived.  Were  we  not 
positive  of  their  origin,  they  would  unquestion- 
ably be  regarded  as  a  new  species."* 

The  limits  necessarily  imposed  upon  us,  pre- 
clude more  extended  specifications  under  this 
head.  AVe  must  content  ourselves  with  refer- 
ring the  reader  to  the  numerous  other  in- 
stances recorded  in  Prichard's  "Natural  History 
of  Man  ;"  Lawrence's  "  Lectures  on  Physiology, 
Zoology  and  the  Natural  History  of  Man  ;" 
Carpenter  on  the  "  Yarieties  of  Mankind"  in 
in  the  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology ; 

*  J.  Bachman,  D.  D.     Loc.  cit.,  pp.  305,  306. 


42  T  TI  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

and  Dr.  Bachinau  on  "the  Doctrine  of  the 
Unity  of  the  Human  Race  examined  on  the 
principles  of  science." 

Let  us  now  consider  the  case  in  which  per- 
manent varieties  have  sprung  from  the  con- 
tinued operation  of  the  same  modifjdng  agencies 
through  a  series  of  generations,  until  certain 
peculiarities,  which  may  respect  either  the 
bodily  structure  or  the  psychical  temperament, 
become  ultimately  congenital,  though  in  their 
origin  they  were  gradually  acquired.  "  There 
is  one  great  field  of  observation  which  furnishes 
abundant  evidence  of  the  origin  of  numerous 
'permanent  varieties  within  the  limits  of  single 
species,  in  the  tribes  of  native  European  species, 
which  are  known  to  have  been  transported  to 
America  since  the  discovery  of  this  continent, 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  15th  century.  Many 
of  these  races  have  multiplied  exceedingly  on  a 
soil  and  under  a  climate  congenial  to  their 
nature.  Some  have  run  wild  in  the  vast  west- 
ern forests,  and  have  there  lost  ail  the  most 
obvious  traces  of  domestication.  The  wild 
tribes  are  found  to   differ,  physically,  from   the 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  43 

domestic  breeds  from  which  tliey  are  known  to 
have  issued,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  regard 
this  change  as  a  restoration,  in  part,  of  the 
primitive  characteristics  of  the  wild  stocks, 
from  which  the  tamed  animals  had  themselves 
descended.  The  comparison  of  these  wild  races 
with  our  domesticated  breeds,  affords,  at  least, 
some  curious  and  interesting  observations. 
The  animals  which  were  transported  by  the 
Spaniards  to  America,  are  the  hog,  flie  horse, 
the  ass,  the  sheep,  the  goat,  the  cow,  the  dog, 
the  cat,  and  the  gallinaceous  fowls."*  With 
reference  to  each  of  these  species,  the  author 
has  collected  a  body  of  authentic  and  most  in- 
teresting observations  relative  to  the  changes 
which  it  has  undergone  in  becoming  restored  to 
the  wild  state.    We  shall  quote  a  portion  of  his 

em  arks  relating  to  the  changes  which  the  hog 
has  undergone  since  its  introduction  into  Amer- 
ica, and  would  advise  our  readers  to  consult  liis 
admirable  works  for  further  details. 

The  hoo;  is  known  not  to  be  indigenous  to 

this  country,  but  was  i>itroduced   into  St.  Do- 

*  J.  C.  Prichard.     Loc.  cit,  pp.  27,  28. 


I 


44  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

mingo  at  the  first  discovery  of  tliat  Island  in 
1493,  and  successively  to  all  the  places  where 
the  Spaniards  formed  settlements.  These  ani- 
mals multiplied  with  great  rapidity,  and  soon 
infested  the  forests  in  large  herds.  At  length, 
under  the  influences  of  their  wild  state,  they 
have  resumed  the  characters  of  the  original 
stock ;  that  is,  their  appearance  very  closely 
resembles  that  of  the  European  wild  boar,  from 
which  the  domesticated  breeds  have  sprung. 
Their  ears  have  become  erect  ;  their  heads  are 
larger,  and  their  foreheads  vaulted  at  the  upper 
part  ;  their  color  has  lost  the  variety  found  in 
the  domestic  breeds,  the  wild  hogs  of  the  Ameri- 
can forests  being  uniformly  black.  The  hog 
which  inhabits  the  high  mountains  of  Paramos 
bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  wild  boar 
of  France.  His  skin  is  covered  with  thick  fur, 
often  somewhat  crisp,  beneath  which  is  found 
in  some  individuals  a  species  of  wool.  Thus 
the  restoration  of  the  original  characters  of  the 
wild  boar,  in  a  race  known  to  have  sprung 
from  domesticated  swine  brought  over  to  Amer- 
ica by  the   Spaniards,  removes  all   reason  for 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  45 

doubt,  if  any  had  existed,  as  to  the  identity  of 
the  wild  and  domesticated  stocks  in  Europe,  and 
we  may  safely  proceed  to  compare  the  physical 
characters  of  these  races  as  varieties,  which  have 
arisen    in    one    species.     We    note,    then,    the 
restoration  of  one  uniform  black  color,  and  the 
change  from  sparse  hair  and  bristles  to  a  thick 
fur  with  a  covering  of  wool.     But  besides  these, 
we  note  a  very  remarkable  change  in  the  shape 
of  the  head.     Blumenbach  long  ago  pointed  out 
the  great  difference  between  the  cranium  of  the 
domestic  swine  and  that  of  the   primitive  wild 
boar,  and  remarked  that  this  difference  is  quite 
equal  to  that  which  has  been  observed  between 
the  skull  of  the  Negro  and  the  European.     In 
addition  to  numerous  other  points  of  difference, 
the   enormous   length  of  the  wild  boar's  tusk, 
amounting  sometimes  to  ten  or  twelve  inches, 
is    a  very  conspicuous   one.     Swine,  continues 
Blumenbach,  in  some   countries   have   degene- 
rated into  races,  which  in  singularity  far  exceed 
anything  that  has  been  found  strange  in  bodily 
variety   among  the   human   race.     Swine  with 
sohd  hoofs  were  known  to  the  ancients,  and  are 


46  THE    UNITY    OF 

yet  found  in  Hungary  and  Sweden.  Dr.  Bacli- 
man  has  ascertained  that  these  have  recently 
occurred  as  an  accidental  variety  on  the  Red 
River.  The  European  swine,  first  carried  b}^ 
the  Spaniards  in  1509  to  the  island  of  Cubagua, 
at  that  time  celebrated  for  its  pearl-fishery,  have 
there  degenerated  into  a  monstrous  race,  with 
toes  which  were  half  a  span  in  length."* 

We  are  informed  by  Dr.  Bachman,  that  "  the 
cattle  in  Opelousas,  in  Western  Louisiana,  have, 
without  a  change  of  stock  within  the  last  thirty 
years,  produced  a  variety  of  immense  size,  with 
a  peculiar  form  and  enormous  horns,  like  the 
cattle  of  Abyssinia.  They  have  now  formed  a 
permanent  race,  and  we  were  very  recently 
informed  that  all  the  other  breeds  had  disap- 
peared from  the  marshy  meadows  of  Opelou- 
sas."f 

Illustrations  on  this  point  might  be  multiplied 
to  an  almost  indefinite  extent.  Dr.  Bachman, 
indeed,  avers,  as   the    result  of   his    extended 


*  We  have  borrowed  the  above  account  of  the  varieties  of  swine 
from  Dr.  Prichard. 

-}•  J.  Bachman,  D.  D.     Op.  cit.,  p.  181.' 


T  U  E    H  U  M  A  N    S  P  E  C  I  E  S .  47 

observations  on  this  subject,  that  "  every  verte- 
bratecl  animal,  from  the  horse  down  to  the 
canary-bird  and  gold-fish,  is  subject  in  a  state 
of  domestication,  to  very  great  and  striking 
varieties,  and  that  in  the  majority  of  species, 
these  varieties  are  much  greater  than  are  ex- 
hibited in  any  of  the  numerous  varieties  of  the 
human  race." 

So,  too,  one  of  the  first  physiologists  of  the 
age  expresses  himself  thus  :  "  The  longer  the 
action  of  external  influences,"  tending  to  pro- 
duce variations  of  species,  "  is  continued,  the 
more  constant  does  the  particular  variety  be- 
come, and  the  more  does  it  acquire  the  charac- 
ter of  a  tj^pe.  To  these  external  influences  be- 
long the  climates  or  zones  in  which  the  animals 

hve Climate  modifies  also  the  '  habitus  ' 

and  size  of  animals.  Cattle  transported  from 
the  temperate  zones  of  Europe, — for  example, 
from  Holland  or  England  to  the  East  Indies, — 
are  said  to  become  considerably  smaller  in  their 
succeeding  generations.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  skin  of  the  cattle  carried  to  South  America, 
has,  in  a  series  of  generations,  gradually  be- 


48  THEUNITYOF 

come  so  much  changed  in  its  properties  that  the 
Brazilian  hides  now  supply  the  best  leather. 
The  gu'mea-i[>\g,Caviaape7'ea,  which  in  its  native 
country  is  of  a  grey  color,  since  its  introduction 
into  Europe  has  become  changed  into  a  variety 
marked  with  brown,  black  and  white  spots. 
The  elevation  of  the  locality  above  the  sea,  also, 
independently  of  the  degree  of  latitude,  has  an 
influence  over  the  forms  of  animals. 
But  the  food  also  modifies  the  form  and  nutri- 
tion of  animals  ;  hence,  in  the  low  countries  of 
Holland,  East  Friesland  and  Holstein,  the  cattle 
are  remarkable  for  their  large  size.  .  .  The 
concurrence  of  different  conditions  of  internal  as 
well  as  external  nature,  which  cannot  be  seve- 
rally defined,  has  produced  the  existing  races  or 
Jixed  varieties  of  the  different  species  of  animals  ; 
the  most  remarkable  of  which  varieties  are  to  be 
met  with  in  those  species  which  are  susceptible 
of  the  most  extended  distribution  over  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth."* 

We   may,   then.,   regard  it  as  an  established 

*  J.  Miiller,  M.  D.,  Elements  of  Physiology,  translated  by  W.  Baly. 
.  London,  1842,  p.  1664. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  49 

fact  that  under  the  mfluence  of  causes  some- 
thiies  appreciable,  though  often  quite  unknown, 
animals  may  acquire  structural  characters,  dif- 
fering in  many  respects  from  those  of  the  parent 
stock,  and  then  transmit  such  peculiarities  to 
their  own  offspring  with  entire  constancy,  so  as 
to  give  rise  to  a  new  breed.  It  is  interesting  to 
remark  that  not  only  are  the  structural  charac- 
ters of  animals  of  the  same  original  stock  hable 
to  undergo  variations,  accidental  in  their  origin, 
yet  afterwards  regularly  transmitted  to  their 
offspring,  but  that  the  same  may  be  predicated 
of  certain  physiological  and  psychological  traits  ; 
although  the  limits  of  possible  departure  from 
the  typical  characters  of  the  original  stock  are 
doubtless  more  narrow  in  respect  to  these 
qualities,  than  they  are  in  respect  to  bodily 
conformation.  Sir  Charles  Lyell  states  that 
some  of  his  countrymen,  engaged  in  conducting 
one  of  the  principal  mining  associations  in 
Mexico, — that  of  Real  del  Monte, — carried  out 
with  them  some  English  greyhounds  of  the 
best  breed,  to  hunt  the  hares  which  abound  in 

that  country.     The  great  platform,  which  is  the 
3 


50  THE    L  NIT  Y    OF 

scene  of  sport,  is  at  an  elevation  of  about  nine 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
the  mercury  in  the  barometer  stands  habitually 
at  the  height  of  about  nineteen  inches.  It  was 
found  that  the  greyhounds  could  not  support 
the  fatigues  of  a  long  chase  in  this  attenuated 
atmosphere  ;  and  before  they  could  come  up 
with  their  prey,  they  lay  down  gasping  for 
breath  ;  but  these  same  animals  have  produced 
whelps  which  have  grown  up,  and  are  not  in 
the  least  degree  incommoded  by  the  want  of 
density  in  the  air,  but  run  down  the  hares  with 
as  much  ease  as  the  fleetest  of  their  race  in 
England.*  Dr.  Prichard  relates  a  parallel  case, 
exemplifpng  the  gradual  process  of  acclima- 
tization and  the  subsequent  regular  transmis- 
sion, by  descent,  of  the  newly  acquired  power. 
Within  the  present  century  geese  were  first 
introduced  on  the  plateau  of  Bogota.  At  first 
the  eggs  laid  were  very  few,  and  scarcely  a 
fourth  part  of  these  was  hatched  ;  of  the  young 
goslings,  more  than  half  died  in  the  first  month  ; 
the  second  generation,  produced  by  the  sur- 

*  Sir  C.  Lyell.     Principles  of  Geology.     London,  1850.     P.  672. 


T  H  E    H  U  M  A  N    S  r  E  C  I  E  S  .  61 

vivors,  was  more  successful,  and  the  breed  has 
gradually  approximated  to  the  vigor  of  the  same 
stock  in  Europe. 

We  may  remark,  in  passing,  that  this  ten- 
dency to  the  regular  transmission  to  offspring 
of  characters  acquired  by  the  progenitors  of  a 
stock,  in  the  gradual  process  of  acclimatization, 
furnishes  an  entirely  satisfactory  explanation  of 
the  alleged  immunity  enjoyed  by  our  negroes 
from  attacks  of  yellow  fever  and  malarious  dis- 
eases. The  phenomenon  is  but  another  instance 
of  the  general  principle  which  has  just  been 
stated.  The  power  of  resisting  certain  mor- 
bific influences  connected  with  climate,  though 
acquired  with  difficulty,  and  as  the  result  of  a 
gradual  change  taking  place  through  numerous 
successive  generations,  may  yet,  when  once 
fully  acquired,  be  regularly  transmitted  to  off- 
spring, and  thus  become  characteristic  of  a  race. 
That  the  character  should  be  so  tenacious  as  to 
resist  the  opposite  influences  of  other  climates 
through  a  series  of  generations,  need  not  ex- 
cite surprise,  when  it  is  remembered  that  a  pos- 
itive character  once  stamped  upon  the  system 


52  THEUNITYOF 

is  not  easily  lost  by  merely  withholding  the 
conditions  which  originally  produced  it,  and 
that  the  process  by  which  it  was  riveted  upon 
certain  races  of  African  negroes,  extended 
through  many  centuries.  It  accords  with  this 
view,  that  our  negroes  are  not  wholly  exempt 
from  attacks  of  these  diseases,  as  was  proved 
in  the  disastrous  epidemic  in  Norfolk  and  Ports- 
mouth during  the  summer  of  1855.  Of  course 
this  partial  immunity  cannot,  consistently  with 
the  recognized  principles  of  science,  be  invoked 
as  a  mark  of  specific  difference  betw^een  the 
African  and  other  races,  for  specific  tests  admit 
of  no  exception.* 

Sir  Charles  Lyell  records  several  curious  and 
interesting  instances  of  "  acquired  instincts  be- 
come hereditary r  The  inhabitants  of  the  banks 
of  the  Magdalena  employ  a  mongrel  race   of 

*  It  should  be  observed  here  that  the  above  statement  is  not  invali- 
dated by  the  alleged  fact  that  yellow  fever  is  not  an  African  disease; 
for,  as  has  been  remarked  by  Dr.  Barton,  of  New  Orleans,  "  althon^-h 
the  yellow  fever  proper  hardly  exists  in  Africa,  an  equivalent  malijnant 
type  of  fever  does,  to  which  the  negroes  are  habituated."  {Report  on  the 
smntari/  condition  of  New  OrJeam,  hy  Dr.  E.  H.  Barton.  M  Edition. 
Supplement  p.  274.)  The  truth  of  this  statement  is  entirely  irrespective 
of  Dr.  Barton's  peculiar  opinions  on  the  contested  question  of  the 
identity  of  yellow  and  bilious  fevers. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  63 

dogs  to  hunt  the  white-hpped  pecari.  The  ad- 
dress of  these  dogs  consists  in  restraining  their 
ardor,  and  attaching  themselves  to  no  animal  in 
particular,  but  keeping  the  whole  herd  in  check. 
Now,  among  these  dogs  some  are  found,  which, 
the  very  first  time  they  are  taken  into  the  woods, 
are  acquainted  with  this  mode  of  attack  ;  where- 
as, a  dog  of  another  breed  starts  forward  at  once, 
is  surrounded  by  the  pecari,  and,  whatever  may 
be  his  strength,  is  destroyed  in  a  moment. 

The  actions  of  a  pointer  may  be  referred  to 
a  mere  modification  of  a  natural  habit,  but  the 
same  explanation  will  not  apply  to  the  case  of 
the  retriever  ;  and  yet  it  has  been  satisfactorily 
ascertained,  that  the  peculiar  faculty  which 
characterizes  this  breed,  though  originally  im- 
pressed upon  the  animal  with  great  labor  and 
difficulty,  is  now  inherited  by  the  offspring,  so 
that  a  young  whelp,  separated  very  early  from 
its  parent,  and  kept  constantly  under  the  eyes 
of  an  eminent  naturalist,  (M.  Magendie.)  per- 
formed its  part  when  first  carried  to  the  field, 
with  as  much  steadiness  as  dogs  that  had  been 
duly  trained.* 

*  Lyell.     Op.  eit..  pp.  571,  572. 


54  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

From  a  vast  array  of  parallel  facts,  recorded 
by  himself  and  others,  Dr.  Prichard  deduces 
the  following  conclusions,  the  accuracy  of  which 
cannot  be  successfully  contested  :  "I.  That 
when  certain  animals  are  transported  to  a  new 
region,  not  only  individuals,  but  also  races,  re- 
quire to  be  harmonized  in  physical  constitution 
to  the  climate.  II.  This  acclimatization,  as  it 
is  termed,  consists  in  certain  permanent  changes 
produced  in  the  constitution  of  animals,  which 
bring  it  into  a  state  of  adaptation  to  the  cli- 
mate. III.  A  restoration  of  domestic  animals 
to  the  wild  state  causes  a  return  towards  the 
original  characters  of  the  wild  tribe.  IV.  Per- 
manent changes  or  modifications  in  the  func- 
tions of  life,  may  be  effected  by  long-continued 
changes  in  the  habitudes  which  influence  these 
functions,  as  exemplified  in  the  permanent  pro- 
duction of  milk  by  the  domesticated  breeds  of 
cows,  which  has  been  produced  by  an  artificial 
habit  continued  through  several  generations. 
V.  Hereditary  instincts  may  be  formed,  some 
animals  transmitting  to  their  offspring  acquired 
habits,  and  thus  the  psychical  as  well   as   the 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  55 

physical  character  of  the  races  undergo  varia- 
tion through  the  influence  of  various  causes  on 
the  breed."* 

But  let  it  be  noted,  that  the  existence  of  any 
number  of  varieties  within  the  limits  of  an  as- 
sumed single  species,  whether  the  diversities 
respect  the  physical  or  the  psychical  characters 
of  the  races,  and  whether  they  be  brought 
about  by  obvious  causes  or  depend  upon  some 
inappreciable  tendency  to  spontaneous  varia- 
tion, does  not  in  any  degree  tend  to  throw  a 
doubt  upon  the  doctrine  of  "  permanence  of 
species  ;"  for,  however  wide  may  be  the  limits 
of  variation,  there  is  yet  a  limit  in  every  case  ; 
and,  moreover,  all  the  varieties  of  any  single 
species,  however  numerous  and  diversified,  do 
yet  retain,  as  a  common  heritage,  the  unmis- 
takable distinguishing  marks  of  that  species. 
The  possibility  of  identifying  all  the  diversified 
breeds  of  dogs,  as  one  species,  furnishes  a  strik- 
ing exemplification  of  this  remark.  We  shall 
presently  see  that  this  is  the  ground  taken  by 
F,  Cuvier,   Owen,  and   a  large  majority  of  the 

*  Prichard.     Loc.  cit.,  pp.  39,  40. 


66  THEUNITYOF 

most  eminent  naturalists  of  the  age.  It  is  true 
that  Messrs.  Nott  and  Gliddon,  with  singular 
complacency,  affirm  that  these  great  men  knew 
nothing  of  the  "monumental  history"  of  man 
and  other  animals,  including  the  dog,  as  pro- 
served  among  the  antiquities  of  Egypt ;  but,  in- 
asmuch as  most  of  these  eminent  savans  have 
lived  and  written  since  the  publication  of  the 
researches  of  modern  Egyptologists,  and  Owen's 
latest  and  most  emphatic  utterances  have  been 
made  subsequently  to  the  appearance  of  even 
the  "  Types  of  Mankind,"  we  are  not  at  liberty 
to  assign  such  an  explanation  of  their  zoologi- 
cal errors. 

We  have  extended  our  remarks  to  an  incon- 
venient, and  we  fear  a  tedious  length,  in  illus- 
tration of  the  doctrine  that  varieties,  when  kept 
separate  by  breeding  inter  se,  are  often  as  per- 
manent as  species  ;  because  the  denial  of  this 
fact  is  a  cardinal  point  with  those  who  deny 
the  unity  of  the  human  species.  Admit  this 
doctrine,  which  it  does  appear  to  us  no  reason- 
able mind  can  now  reject,  and  the  "monu- 
mental  history, "    discovered    in    Egypt,    only 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  57 

proves  that  some  of  the  now  existing  varieties 
of  men  and  dogs  had  their  origin  prior  to  the 
date  of  the  inscriptions.  Assign  to  these  the 
earhest  date  you  please,  there  must,  of  course, 
have  been  several  centuries  between  that  period 
and  the  commencement  of  the  world's  history. 
The  inscriptions  prove  that  such  and  such  va- 
rieties existed  so  many  thousand  years  ago. 
Granted.  We  ourselves  contend  that  certain 
varieties  are  permanent.  But  when  you  con- 
clude that,  because  the  types  have  not  changed 
since  those  inscriptions  were  made,  therefore 
they  were  created  as  distinct  species,  we  can- 
not withold  an  expression  of  surprise  that 
you  overlook  the  obvious  flaw  in  your  argu- 
ment, and  we  protest  against  the  manifest  peti- 
tio  principii.  Sir  C.  Lyell  has  shown  that 
species,  susceptible  of  modification,  may  be 
greatly  altered  in  a  few  generations,*  Indeed, 
in  all  the  instances  of  such  variations,  in  which 
the  process  has  been  made  known,  the  maxi- 
mum amount  of  change  was  reached  in  a  com- 
paratively short  time,  and  thenceforward  the 

*  Principles  of  Geology,  p.  570. 
3* 


58  THE    HUMAN    SPECIES. 

newly  acquired  characters  were  regularly  trans- 
mitted by  descent.  We  have  already  cited  a 
number  of  instances  from  among  the  lower 
animals.  We  shall  in  the  sequel  have  occa- 
sion to  refer  to  the  occurrence  of  similar  phe- 
nomena in  the  human  family,  within  historic 
and  even  modern  times.* 

*  See  Appendix  B. 


CHAPTER   II. 

MEANS   OF   DISCRIMINATION    BETWEEN    SPECIES    AND 
PERMANENT    VARIETIES. 

The  fact  that  varieties  may  occur  within  the 
limits  of  a  single  species  and  be  permanently 
perpetuated  being  thus  established  on  incon- 
trovertible evidence,  the  question  presents  it- 
self, How  are  we  to  recognize  such  groups  ?  or 
in  other  words,  How  can  we  ascertain  whether 
two  groups  of  individuals,  possessing  numerous 
points  of  resemblance,  but  yet  marked  by  some 
distinctive  features,  are  distinct  species,  or  are 
only  permanent  varieties  of  one  species?  Of 
course,  the  most  satisfactory  and  conclusive  test 
would  be  authentic  historical  evidence,  going 
back  to  the  origin  of  a  given  race.  This  test 
is  especially  important,  as  not  only  settling  the 
question  in  any  particular  case  in  regard  to 
which  authentic   evidence  may  have  been  col- 


60  T  11  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

lected,  but  as  verifying  data,  which,  on  the 
grounds  of  analogy,  we  may  apply  to  other 
cases  where  direct  historical  evidence  is  want- 
ing. It  furnishes  us  with  examples  of  known 
variation,  and  indicates  at  the  same  time  the 
extent  and  direction  of  possible  changes  that 
are  yet  compatible  with  specific  unity.  It  has 
brought  to  light  the  interesting  fact,  that  there 
is  a  great  diversity  in  respect  to  capacity  for 
vai'iation  among  animals,  even  those  that  are 
most  nearly  allied  to  each  other  in  other  par- 
ticulars. Hence,  some  not  possessing  this  ca- 
pacity are  restricted  to  particular  conditions  of 
climate,  food,  etc.,  while  others  are  more  widely 
dispersed,  simply  because  they  have  the  power 
of  adapting  their  physical  and  psychical  consti- 
tutions to  a  wider  range  of  conditions.*  It 
also  proves  that  "  some  mere  varieties  are  pos- 
sibly more  distinct  than  certain  individuals  of 
distinct  species. "f  A  most  admirable  exposi- 
tion of  the  final  causes  of  this  providential 
arrangement  is  found  in  the  chapter  of  LyelFs 

*W.  B.  Carpenter.    Varieties  of  Mankind. 
fLyell.     Op.  cit.,  p.  559. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  61 

Principles  of  Geology,  to  which  ^Ye  are  indebted 
for  many  of  the  facts  and  arguments  already 
given.  "  If  it  be  a  law,  for  instance,  that 
scanty  sustenance  should  check  those  indi- 
viduals in  their  growth,  which  are  enabled  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  privations  of  this 
kind,  and  that  a  parent,  prevented  in  this  man- 
ner from  attaining  the  size  proper  to  its  species, 
should  produce  a  dwarfish  offspring,  a  stunted 
race  will  arise,  as  is  remarkably  exemplified  in 
some  varieties  of  the  horse  and  dog.  The 
difference  of  stature  in  some  races  of  dogs, 
when  compared  to  others,  is  as  one  to  five  in 
linear  dimensions,  making  a  difference  of  a 
hundred-fold  in  volume.  Now,  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  species  in  general  are  by 
no  means  susceptible  of  existing  under  a  diver- 
sity of  circumstances,  which  may  give  rise  to 
such  a  disparity  of  size,  and,  consequently, 
there  will  be  a  multitude  of  distinct  species,  of 
which  no  two  adult  individuals  can  ever  depart 
so  widely  from  a  certain  standard  of  dimen- 
sions as  the  mere  varieties  of  certain  other 
species — the  dog,  for  instance.     Now  we  have 


62  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

only  to  suppose  that  what  is  true  of  size  may 
also  hold  with  regard  to  color,  and  many  other 
attributes,  and  it  will  at  once  follow  that  the 
degree  of  possible  discordance  between  varie- 
ties of  the  same  species  may,  in  certain  cases, 
exceed  the  utmost  disparity  which  can  arise 
between  two  individuals  of  many  distinct  spe- 
cies. The  same  remarks  may  hold  true  in 
regard  to  instincts :  for,  if  it  be  foreseen  that 
one  species  will  have  to  encounter  a  great 
variety  of  foes,  it  may  be  necessary  to  arm  it 
with  great  cunning  and  circumspection,  or  with 
courage,  or  other  qualities  capable  of  develop- 
ing themselves  on  certain  occasions  ;  such,  for 
example,  as  those  migratory  instincts  which  are 
so  remarkably  exhibited  at  particular  periods, 
after  they  have  remained  dormant  for  many 
generations.  The  history  and  habits  of  one 
variet}'  of  such  species  may  often  differ  more 
considerably  from  some  other  than  those  of 
many  distinct  species,  which  have  no  such  lati- 
tude of  accommodation  to  circumstances."* 
The  horse,  the  dog.  horned  cattle,  swine,  and 

*  Lyell.  Op.  cit  p.  560 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  63 

in  a  word  all  the  domesticated  animals  which 
follow  man  in  his  migrations,  and  like  him 
manifest  a  power  of  accommodation  to  widely 
varied  conditions  of  climate,  exhibit  also,  as  has 
already  been  intimated,  an  extraordinary  ca- 
pacity for  variation,  so  that  mere  varieties 
arising  within  the  limits  of  any  one  of  these 
species, — say  the  hog,  in  regard  to  which  we 
have  already  cited  unquestionable  facts  that 
will  serve  to  illustrate  the  point  now  under  con- 
sideration,— will  exhibit  differences  far  greater 
in  apparent  significance  than  in  other  cases  would 
suffice  to  indicate  specific  distinctions. 

The  question  now  recurs  whether,  when  his- 
torical proof  cannot  be  had,  there  is  any  other 
mode  of  ascertaining  whether  two  or  more 
groups  of  somewhat  dissimilar  animals  are  dif- 
ferent but  allied  species,  like  tigers  and  leopards, 
or  are  only  permanent  varieties  of  one  species, 
like  the  different  breeds  of  hogs  which  are 
known  to  have  sprung  from  a  common  stock. 

Adverting  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the  constancy 
of  a  differential  character,  however  intrinsically 
unimportant  it  may  appear,  wliich  serves  to  in- 


64  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

dicate  the  distinction  of  species,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  understand  that,  next  to  historical  evi- 
dence tracing  a  given  stock  through  a  long  in- 
terval of  time  and  under  great  variations  of  ex- 
ternal conditions,  so  as  to  note  the  successive 
changes  it  may  have  undergone,  the  most  im- 
portant source  of  information  is  found  in  ob- 
taining an  assemblage  of  as  many  forms  as 
possible  of  each  type,  with  the  view  of  com- 
paring them  with  each  other  for  the  sake  of  de- 
termining whether  the  supposed  specific  charac- 
ters are  constant  and  well-marked  throughout,  or 
whether  diverse  forms  tend  to  run  together  by 
intermediate  gradations.  We  are  indebted  to 
Dr.  Carpenter  for  an  apt  illustration  of  the 
principle  in  question.  "  Two  Terebratulae  (a 
genus  of  Brachiopod  Bivalves)  are  brought  to 
us  from  different  parts  of  the  great  Southern 
Ocean,  the  one  of  which  has  the  edges  of  the 
valves  of  the  shells  thrown  into  deep  plications, 
whilst  in  the  other  they  are  quite  smooth.  Now 
in  most  other  Bivalve  Molluscans  such  a  differ- 
ence would  be  justly  admitted  to  afford  a  valid 
specific    character,  and    the   conchologist,  who 


T  H  E    H  U  M  A  N    S  P  E  C  I  E  S  .  65 

had  only  these  two  shells  before  him,  would  be 
fully  justified,  by  the  usual  rules  of  the  science, 
in  ranking  each  as  a  distinct  specific  type.  But 
as  his  collection  extends,  intermediate  forms 
come  into  his  possession  ;  and  at  last  he  finds 
that  he  can  make  a  continuous  series,  passing, 
by  the  most  gradual  transition,  from  the 
smoothest  to  the  most  deeply  plicated  form. 
Thus,  then,  the  supposed  validity  of  this  dis- 
tinction is  altogether  destroyed  ;  and  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  most  plicated  and  the  smoothest 
of  these  Terebratulae  must  be  regarded  as  be- 
longing to  one  and  the  same  species,  notwith- 
standing the  marked  diversity  of  their  extreme 
forms."* 

It  is  on  similar  grounds  that  the  most  emi- 
nent naturalists  admit  the  specific  unity  of  all 
the  diversified  varieties  of  the  dog.  As  was  well 
remarked  by  F.  Cuvier,  there  is  no  alternative 
between  adopting  this  conclusion  and  falling 
into  the  absurdity  of  admitting  at  least  fifty 
species  of  dogs,  all  distinguished  by  permanent 
differences,  and  yet  capable  of  unlimited  cross- 

*^"  W.  B.  Carpenter.    Ubi  supra. 


66  THE    UNITY    OF 

breeding.  Prof.  R.  Owen  insists  upon  the  same 
doctrine.  Adverting  to  the  extraordinary  dif- 
ferences in  cranial  conformation  between  the 
large    greyhound    on    the    one    hand  and    the 

smaller  spaniel  on  the  other,  he  adds:  "But 
3'et  under  the  extremest  mask  of  variety  so 
superinduced,  the  naturalist  detects  in  the  den- 
tal formula,  and  in  the  construction  of  the 
cranium,  the  unmistakable  generic  and  specific 
characters  of  the  Canis  familiarisr'^  It  is  also 
pertinently  remarked  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell  "  that 
the  numerous  races  of  dogs  which  we  have  pro- 
duced by  domesticity  are  nowhere  to  be  found 
in  a  wild  state.  In  nature  we  should  seek  in 
vain  for  mastiffs,  harriers,  spaniels,  greyhounds, 
and  other  races,  between  which  the  differences 
are  sometimes  so  great,  that  they  w'ould  be 
readily  admitted  as  specific  between  wild  ani- 
mals ;  yet  all  these  have  sprung  originally 
from  a  single  race,  at  first  approaching  very 
near  to  a  wolf  if  indeed  the  wolf  be  not  the 
true  type,  which  at  some  period  or  other  was 
domesticated  by  man."f     We  have  just  seen,  it 

*  Zoological  Transactions,  voL  iii. 
f  Lyell's  Principles  of  Geology.     London,  1850,  p.  548. 


T  II  E    II  U  M  A  N    S  P  E  C  I  E  S  ,  67 

is  true,  that  the  authors  of  the  "  Types  of  Maii- 
kmd"  attempt  to  discredit  the  conclusions  of 
naturahsts  with  reference  to  the  specific  unity 
of  the  dog,  by  having  recourse  to  Egyptian 
monumental  inscriptions,  which,  however,  only 
serve  to  show  that  some  of  the  now  existing 
varieties  had  already  arisen  prior  to  the  date  of 
those  inscriptions.  They  do  not  touch  the 
question  of  their  origin,  and  we  are,  therefore, 
constrained  to  treat  the  question  on  princi- 
ples, the  validity  of  which  is  full}^  recognized 
by  all  philosophical  naturalists.  Let  it  be  ob- 
served, too,  that  whatever  be  the  original  causes 
of  these  variations,  even  when  some  of  them 
appear  to  depend  on  climate,  as  soon  as  they 
become  permanent  they  are  transmitted  irre- 
spectively of  the  continued  operation  of  the 
causes  which  had  given  rise  to  them  ;  so  that 
breeds  originating  in  different  localities,  under 
the  influence  of  different  conditions  connected 
with  climate,  after  being  once  established  will 
be  perpetuated  without  change  in  one  and  the 
same  climate.  A  noteworthy  and  interesting 
exception  to  this  remark  is  found  in  the  case 


68  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

of  the  lapse  of  domesticated  breeds  into  the 
wild  state,  when  the  varieties  dependent  on  do- 
mestication are  likely  to  merge  into  one  com- 
mon type,  which  approximates  more  or  less 
closely  to  the  original  stock  whence  the  domes- 
tic breeds  had  sprung.  According  to  Dr.  Car- 
penter,"^ this  change  has  taken  place  in  various 
parts  of  the  world  in  the  case  of  dogs,  (the 
very  case,  namely,  in  which  Dr.  Nott  contends 
that  types  are  so  permanent,)  which  were  intro- 
duced from  Europe  and  which  have  since  be- 
come wild  ;  but  it  has  been  particularly  noticed 
in  Cuba,  where  the  exact  period  at  which  the 
dog  was  introduced,  that  of  tlie  invasion  by  the 
Spaniards  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
is  known.  The  same  fact  is  mentioned  by  Sir 
Charles  Lyell.f  with  respect  to  the  horse,  the 
ox,  the  boar  and  the  dog.  With  reference  to 
this  partial  exception  to  the  permanency  of 
well-established  varieties  it  should  be  observed, 
first,  that  in  all  the  recorded  instances  of  its  oc- 
currence several  varieties  of  the  same  original 

^  *  "W.  B.  Carpenter's  Zoology,  vol.  i.  p.  35. 

f  Lyell.    Op.  cit.,  p.  563. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  69 

stock  were  intermingled  in  tliis  process  of  res- 
toration to  the  wild  state  ;  and  secondly,  that 
the  wild  state  was  the  original  condition  of  the 
primordial  types.  Lest  any  of  our  readers 
should  consider  the  demonstration  of  the  princi- 
ple now  under  review  unsatisfactory  by  reason 
of  the  doubt  which  has  been  recently  expressed 
as  to  the  specific  unity  of  the  dog,  we  will  cite 
the  somewhat  parallel  case  of  the  common  wolf. 
According  to  Dr.  Bachman,  "The  common  wolf 
(Canis  lupus)  has  been  described  by  Linnaeus, 
Buffon,  Cuvier,  and  all  the  eminent  naturalists 
who  have  written  on  the  mammalia  of  Europe, 
as  identical  with  the  wolf  of  America.  Sir 
John  Richardson,  De  Kay,  and  recently  Audu- 
bon and  Bachman,  on  the  history  of  American 
quadrupeds,  agreeing  with  the  views  of  Euro- 
pean naturalists,  have  placed  all  the  large  North 
American  wolves  (not  including  the  small  prairie 
wolf)  as  varieties  of  the  European  wolf;  and 
even  Col.  Smith  himself  says,  '  Our  somewhat 
extensive  researches  led  us  to  subscribe'  to  the 
opinion  of  the  Prince  of  Wied  '  that  they  are 
the  same.'     This  wolf  is  like  man,  a  cosmopo- 


70  THEUNITYOF 

lite,  and  has  spread  over  a  considerable  portion 

of  the  world Its 

geographical  range  is  wider  than  that  of  any 
species  among  the  inferior  animals,  and  is  only 
exceeded  by  that  composing  the  human  race. 
Let  us  now  examine  how  these  changes  in  cli- 
mate, food,  or  some  other  influences  at  present 
hidden  from  our  knowledge,  affect  this  species. 
In  color,  it  is  white  in  the  northern  regions,  and 
in  the  elevated  countries  on  both  continents. 
In  the  temperate  latitudes  of  Europe  and 
America,  it  is  grey.  It  is  black  in  the  South, 
as  in  Florida,  Georgia,  and  Louisiana.  In  the 
western  part  of  Missouri  it  is  clouded,  and  has 
been  named  Canis  iiubilh.  In  Texas  it  is  red. 
These  varieties  differ  widely  in  size,  those  of 
the  North  being  nearlj^  double  the  size  of  those 
of  the  South.  They  differ  in  the  conformation 
of  the  head  and  the  skull.  In  an  examination 
to  which  we  were  invited,  of  the  wolves  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum,  and  those  con- 
tained in  the  gardens  and  museum  of  the  Zo- 
ological Society  of  London,  all  the  naturalists 
]n'esent  expressed  their  surprise  and  perplexity 


THE    II  U  -M  A  N    SPECIES.  7l 

at  the  vast  differences  existing  not  only  in  color, 
but  in  size,  form,  and  skull  in  different  speci- 
mens. In  cold  climates  their  heads  were  broader 
and  muzzles  shorter  than  in  those  found  farther 
south  ;  still  we  found  individuals  which,  like 
links  in  a  chain,  connected  all  these  varieties  so 
closely  that  they  could  not  be  separated  into 
different  species.  Thus  naturalists,  after  an  ex- 
amination for  two  hundred  years  of  all  the 
varieties  of  the  wolf,  are  obliged  to  admit  that 
this  wide-roaming  animal,  which  changes  its 
form  and  color  at  every  remove  to  new  regions, 
is  one  and  the  same  species."* 

But  sometimes  it  is  not  practicable  to  obtain 
such  a  collection  of  varied  types  as  will  serve 
to  connect  two  dissimilar  specimens  about  whose 
specific  unity  we  may  be  in  doubt,  and  yet  the 
difficulty  may  depend  more  upon  the  slender- 
ness  of  our  observations  than  on  the  non-exist- 
ence of  the  transitional  forms.  In  such  cases 
we  sometimes  rely,  provisionally  at  least,  on 
the  apparent  significance  of  the  differential 
characters,   our  judgment  being  mainly  deter- 

*  J.  Bachmau,  D.  D.     Op.  cit..  p.  12!. 


72  THEUNITYOF 

mined  by  the  value  of  similar  differences  in  the 
case  of  nearly  allied  animals  whose  specific  rela- 
tions have  been  established  on  other  grounds. 
This,  however,  is  a  very  equivocal  test,  by 
reason  of  the  fact  already  stated,  that  differ- 
ences which  in  one  tribe  are  significant  of  spe- 
cific diversity,  are,  in  another  tribe,  quite  com- 
patible with  specific  unity.  Conclusions  founded 
on  such  data  only  must,  therefore,  be  held  as 
provisional,  and  subject  to  future  confirmation 
or  correction. 

A  much  more  valid  ground  of  distinction  is 
often  obtained  by  observing  whether  there  is 
any  character  in  one  of  the  given  races  which 
is  never  absent  in  any  of  the  individuals  of  that 
race,  and  never  present  in  those  of  the  other. 
This  test,  it  will  be  observed,  is  similar  to  that 
just  considered,  which  respects  the  gradational 
merffino;  of  races  into  one  another,  in  that  it 
requires  the  observation  of  a  large  number  of 
individuals ;  but  it  does  not  impose  the  necessity 
of  collecting  numerous  links  in  a  chain  connect- 
ing remote  extremes.  A  single  demonstration 
of  the  inconsistency  of  any  given  character  in- 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  73 

validates  it  as  a  ground  of  specific  distinction. 
Now,  let  it  be  observed  that  this  test,  like  that 
derived  from  a  gradational  series,  is  far  more 
valid  in  its  positive  than  in  its  negative  applica- 
tion. The  discovery  of  a  gradational  series  of 
intervening  links  serving  to  connect  extreme 
races,  and  the  demonstration  of  the  inconstancy 
of  any  alleged  differential  character,  are  far 
more  valid  in  establishing  specific  unity,  than 
the  mere  failure  to  do  either  could  avail  to  prove 
specific  diversity,  since  the  failure  might  depend 
on  too  limited  or  inaccurate  observations,  even 
though,  by  the  aid  of  monumental  inscriptions, 
we  had  succeeded  in  going  back  to  an  extremely 
early  date  in  the  world's  history. 

We  proceed  now  to  consider  the  value  of 
physiological  and  psychological  peculiarities  in 
the  discrimination  of  species.  These,  it  has 
been  well  remarked,  often  afford  a  much  surer 
criterion  than  can  be  obtained  by  the  examina- 
tion of  structural  characters,  since  it  is  more 
easy  to  believe  that  the  forms  of  organs  and  the 
color  of  the  skin  may  vary,  than  that  the  essen- 
tial nature  of  the  animal  can  be  changed.  We 
4 


74      •  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

should  therefore  regard  identity,  or  close  cor- 
respondence in  physiological  characters,  as  out- 
weighing in  favor  of  specific  unity  a  very  con- 
siderable amount  of  structural  difference  that 
might  otherwise  seem  to  favor  the  idea  of  a 
specific  distinction.  This  principle  is  so  gene- 
rally admitted  by  the  most  profound  and  trust- 
worthy naturalists,  that  the  few  who  advocate 
the  doctrine  of  multiple  human  species,  being 
constrained  to  admit  the  physiological  unity, 
find  it  necessary,  as  we  have  already  seen,  to 
use  the  term  species  in  a  different  sense  from 
that  in  which  it  had  been  generally  accepted. 
They  grant  that  physiological  conformity  de- 
monstrates unity  of  essential  nature,  but  they 
contend  that  there  may  be  original  varieties,  and 
these  they  term  species.  Now  we  grant  that 
originally  distinct  types  are  properly  to  be 
ranked  as  distinct  species,  but  we  deny  that 
physiological  unity  can  be  predicated  of  such. 
"We  shall  attempt  to  show  that  such  unity  always 
coincides  with  unity  of  origin. 

By  far  the  most  important  physiological  test 
of  specific  relationship  is  derived  from  a  law  of 


THE     HUMAN    SPEC  I^eU-K"  jl    v    J^  1$  uJ 

reproduction.  We  know  that  the  most  diverse 
breeds,  if  belonging  to  the  same  original  stock, 
breed  together  without  repugnance,  and  pro- 
duce offspring  as  prolific  as  either  of  the  parent 
races.  We  also  know,  that  with  few  exceptions 
animals  of  different  though  closely  allied  species 
have  an  invincible  repugnance  to  each  other, 
and  never,  except  under  restraint,  or  by  means 
of  deception,  cross  their  breeds.  The  lion  and 
the  tiger  resemble  each  other  so  nearly  that  even 
Cuvier  is  said  to  have  been  unable  to  distinguish 
the  cranium  of  one  from  that  of  the  other,  and  yet 
no  one  has  ever  heard  of  a  cross  between  these 
nearly  allied  species.  In  a  few  cases,  however, 
mainly  by  the  intervention  of  man,  allied  species 
have  been  induced  to  unite,  with  the  result  of 
producing  a  hybrid  offspring,  partaking  to  some 
extent  of  the  characters  of  both  parents. 
Generally,  these  hybrids  are  either  entirely 
barren,  or  they  produce  offspring  only  when 
joined  with  one  of  the  parent  stocks.  "  In  one 
or  two  instances,  indeed,  a  mule  has  produced 
offspring  by  union  with  a  similar  animal,  but 
this  is  probably  the  extreme  limit,  since  until 


76  THEUNITYOF 

recently  no  one  has  pretended  that  a  hybrid 
race  could  be  perpetuated.  It  is,  moreover,  a 
remarkable  fact,  that  hybrid  individuals  are  sel- 
dom found  in  a  state  of  nature,  being  almost 
always  the  result  of  the  artificial  interference  of 
man  with  nearly  allied  species  of  the  domesti- 
cated animals.'"^'  Thus  in  an  attempt  to  obtain 
a  cross  between  the  ass  and  a  female  zebra,  it 
was  found  necessary  to  paint  the  ass  with  stripes 
before  the  zebra  could  be  induced  to  receive 
him,  and  it  is  well  known  to  be  commonly 
necessary  to  blindfold  mares  when  they  are 
brought  into  connection  with  the  ass.f  He  who 
"  made  the  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind,  and 
the  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth  after  his  kind,''^  and  pro- 
nounced it  all  "  good,"  has  taken  care  to  inter- 
pose an  adequate  barrier  to  the  possibility  of 
confounding  the  beautiful  order  and  symmetry 
of  His  work  in  the  production  and  perpetuation 
of  monstrous  mongrels,  by  implanting  in  ani- 
mals of  diverse  species  an  instinctive  and  almost 

*  Carpenter, 
t  J.  Bacliman.     Op.  cit..  pp.  53,  54. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  77 

invincible  aversion  to  sexual  intercourse,  and 
has  still  further  guarded  against  the  consequen- 
ces of  the  violent  interference  or  the  cunning 
devices  of  man  by  affixing  the  seal  of  sterility 
on  the  offspring  of  such  unnatural  union. 

Dr.  Morton  of  Philadelphia  is  almost  the  only 
naturalist  of  any  eminence  in  our  own  day  who 
has  attempted  to  controvert  this  position  ;  and 
it  deserves  remark  that  he  did  it  avowedly  to 
support  a  foregone  conclusion.  The  study  of 
human  crania  had  been  with  him  a  cherished 
speciality.  It  was,  perhaps,  to  be  expected,  that 
in  his  almost  exclusive  devotion  to  this  study, 
he  should  form  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the 
value  of  the  craniological  peculiarities  of  the 
different  races  of  men,  the  discovery  and  expo- 
sition of  which  form  tlie  principal,  if  not  the 
only  title,  to  his  permanent  reputation  as  a  man 
of  science.  Accordingly  we  find  him,  in  the 
"  Crania  Americana,"  denying  that  such  peculi- 
arities could  have  been  acquired,  and  contend- 
ing that  they  were  impressed  upon  the  imme- 
diate descendants  of  Noah,  This  last  position, 
we  now  learn,  was  onlv  taken  as  a  concession 


78  THEUNITYOF 

to  the  religious  prejudices  of  the  theological 
world;  his  real  opinion,  as  subsequently  avowed 
in  a  private  letter  to  Dr.  Nott,  published  in  the 
"Types  of  Mankind,"  being,  that  there  was  a 
plural  origin  for  the  different  races  of  men."* 
When  at  length  Dr.  Morton  wished  to  make  a 
public  avowal  of  this  opinion,  he  found  that  the 
power  of  unlimited  cross-breeding  among  the 
races  stood  mightily  in  the  way  of  his  finding 
popular  acceptance  for  his  now  doctrine  of 
multiple  human  species.  It  was  then  necessary 
to  overthrow  the  almost  universally  accepted 
doctrine  of  the  sterility  of  hybrids  ;  and  with 
such  prepossessions,  which,  doubtless,  were  all 
the  stronger  that  he  had  felt  himself  constrained 
to  withhold  the  avowal  of  them  for  so  long  a 
time,  he  entered  upon  the  inquiry  with  refer- 
ence to  the  laws  of  hybridity,  and  published 
his  first  results  in  Silliman's  Journal,  in  1847. 
It  so  happened  that  Dr.  Bachman,  who  is  ad- 
mitted to  stand  in  the  very  front  rank  of  Ameri- 
can naturalists,  and  to  be  without  a  rival  in  the 
special  department  of  mammalian  zoology,  had 

'  Types  of  Munkind.    By  Nott  and  Gliddon.     Memoir  of  Morton. 


THE    HUMAN     SPECIES.  79 

made  extended  and  original  experiments  on 
this  subject  some  years  prior  to  the  date  of  this 
publication.  These  investigations  were  made, 
he  avers,  without  reference  to  the  question  of 
the  unity  or  diversity  of  the  human  races,  and 
without  the  least  bias  of  judgment  as  to  the 
probable  result,  his  only  object  being  to  satisfy 
his  mind  in  regard  to  the  true  origin  of  the 
many  striking  varieties  that  existed  in  the  vari- 
ous departments  of  nature,  and  which  had  be- 
come as  permanent  as  the  species  themselves. 
He  wished  to  ascertain  whether  the  admixture 
of  two  species  might  not  produce  a  fertile  off- 
spring, which  would  in  this  way  propagate  what 
might  be  regarded  as  a  new  species.  He  sub- 
jected plants,  birds,  and  quadrupeds  to  those 
modes  by  which  two  different  species  could  pro- 
duce offspring.  In  this  way  he  succeeded  in 
obtaining,  either  by  his  own  labors  or  by  receiv- 
ing from  others  who  had  produced  them,  a 
Inrger  number  of  hybrids  than  any  other  person 
in  this  country.  They  proved  sterile  in  every 
instance  but  one, — the  hybrid  between  the  China 
and  common  goose, — and  this  proved  to  be  only 


80  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

partially  and  temporarily  fertile.  Supposing  at 
first  that  it  was  perfectly  fertile,  Dr.  Bachman 
recommended  it  to  the  neighboring  planters  as 
an  improved  breed  which  produced  eggs  seve- 
ral weeks  earlier  than  the  common  goose. 
After  five  years'  trial,  however,  he  ascertained 
that  many  of  the  hybrids  laid  eggs  which  were 
not  impregnated.  The  true  hybrids,  in  many 
instances,  were  only  prolific  with  the  pure 
breeds,  and  many  were  absolutely  sterile. 
Those  planters  who  had  not  a  considerable 
number  of  the  originals  of  either  species  in 
their  flocks,  complained  that  their  geese  ceased 
to  be  prolific,  and  laid  dear  eggs.  At  length 
the  hybrid  productions  are  regarded  as  ruinous 
to  the  flock,  the  difl^erent  species  are  beghming 
to  be  kept  separate,  and  the  common  goose  is 
everywhere  in  Carolina  rooting  out  the  China 
goose,  the  former  being  more  prolific  than  the 
hybrids.* 

At  the  date  of  Dr.  Morton's  first  essay  on 
hybridity  these  investigations  of  Dr.  Bachman 
had  not  been  made  public.     Believing  that  Dr. 

*  J.  Bachman,  D.  D.     Op.  cit.  ■• 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  81 

Morton  would,  by  his  own  industry  and  through 
the  aid  of  his  friends,  at  the  extensive  Library 
of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  and  else- 
where, collect  all  the  cases  of  hybridity  that 
were  on  record.  Dr.  Bachman  determined  not 
to  interrupt  his  labors  until  they  had  been  con- 
cluded, and  accordingly  remained  silent  for 
eight  months.  At  length,  however,  in  1850, 
he  replied  publicly  to  Dr.  Morton's  essays,  in 
several  chapters  of  a  work  on  the  "Unity  of 
the  Human  Race  Examined  on  the  Principles 
of  Science,"  to  which  we  have  already  more 
than  once  referred.  He  examines  in  detail  all 
the  facts  collected  by  Dr.  Morton,  and  shows 
conclusively  that  many  were  incorrect,  and  oth- 
ers unsustained  by  satisfactorj'  evidence.  In- 
deed, Dr.  Morton  had  collected  nearly  all  his 
examples  from  so  great  a  distance  that  it  was 
next  to  impossible  either  to  verify  or  refute 
them.  But  "  why,"  significantly  asks  Dr.  Bach- 
man, "  carry  us  to  Egypt,  to  the  steppes  of 
Tartary,  to  the  island  of  Java,  and  the  wilds  of 
Paraguay  and  Yucatan,  to  ascertain  the  truth 
of  the  relations  of  Maga  and  De  la  Malle,  the 


82  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

Beytrage  of  Rudolphi,  the  rambles  of  Captain 
Stedman,  or  the  interested  collector  who  sent 
to  Temminck  his  specimens  of  wild  and  tame 
cocks  and  curassoes  ?  Our  own  country  has 
been  settled  for  more  than  two  hundred  years. 
We  have  imported  all  the  domesticated  animals 
and  poultry  of  Europe,  and  several  of  their 
wild  species  exist  in  our  forests.  Our  fauna  is 
larger,  and  we  possess  every  variety  of  latitude, 
from  polar  cold  to  tropical  heat.  How  many 
hybrids  have  we  found  in  the  woods  ?  We  are 
under  the  impression  that  we  possess  two  spec- 
imens of  a  hybrid  between  the  grey  rabbit  and 
the  swamp  rabbit,  but  as  no  more  of  a  similar 
kind  were  obtained,  we  presume  they  never 
jDropagated.  We  were,  moreover,  led  to  sup- 
pose, after  carefully  examining  a  pair  in  the 
Museum  at  Zurich,  that  the  bird  found  at  long 
intervals  on  the  continent,  which  was  described 
by  Leisler  under  the  name  of  Tetrao  i7iterme- 
dius,  might  prove  a  cross  between  the  wood 
grouse,  {Tetrao  urogalius,)  and  the%lack  cock, 
{Tetrao  tetnx,)  owing  to  the  fact  that  both  spe- 
cies are  very  rare  in  many  neighborhoods,  and 


THEHUMANSPECIES.  83 

that  the  individuals  of  each  might  associate  to- 
gether in  the  absence  of  their  own  species."* 
Subsequently,  however,  Dr.  Bachman  found 
that  he  had  been  mistaken  in  regarding  the 
Tetrao  intermedius  as  a  hybrid.  Temminck, 
an  authority  quoted  by  Dr.  Morton  himself, 
had  proved  it  to  be  a  true  and  pure  species, 
and  when  this  was  pointed  out  to  the  latter  by 
Dr.  Bachman,  he  admitted  the  error  he  had  been 
led  into.  Dr.  Bachman  also  satisfied  him  that 
another  of  his  supposed  hybrids,  that  between 
Motacilla  lugubris  and  Motacilla  alba,  was  not  a 
hybrid  at  all,  but  a  true  species  described  by 
Gould.  Again,  Dr.  Morton  had  denied  the 
statement  of  Dr.  Bachman,  that  naturalists 
agree  that  Capra  aegagrus  was  the  origin  of 
all  our  domesticated  goats.  He  now  admitted 
his  mistake.  "  I  stand  corrected,"  he  wrote,  in 
May,  1850,  "with  regard  to  Capra  aegagrus, 
which  is  by  general  consent  admitted  to  be  the 
source  of  the  common  goat."  "These,"  re- 
marks Dr.  Bachman,  "were  admissions  that 
ought  to  have    cooled    the  ardor  of   even  Dr. 

Si  J.  Bachman,  D.  D.     Op.  cit.,  p.  102. 


84  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

Nott.  Thus  his  facts  contmiially  diminished, 
until  he  had  only  the  dog  to  lean  upon,  in  sup- 
port of  his  theory  of  fertile  hybrids."*  With 
reference  to  the  dog  tribe,  he  says:  "The 
Wolf,  the  Jackal,  and  the  Fox,  all  intermix  with 
each  other  ;  so  does  the  common  Jackal  with 
the  Jackal  of  Senegal."  "It  is  certain,  there- 
fore, that  dissimilar  species  of  the  dog  tribe  are 
capable  of  producing  a  fertile  hybrid  offspring." 
Dr.  Morton's  principal  authority  for  this  state- 
ment was  Col.  Hamilton  Smith,  the  author  of 
the  description  of  the  mammalia  in  the  Natu- 
ralist's Library.  The  zoological  writings  of  this 
gentleman  are  very  justly  characterized  by  Dr. 
Bachman  as  displaying  much  reading  and  re- 
search, exhibiting  the  result  of  extensive  travel, 
and  desultory,  but  not  minute  and  thought- 
ful, observation.  He  seldom  gives  authorities, 
and  is  so  rapid  that  he  cannot  thoroughly  ver- 
ify his  facts.  He  is  fond  of  fanciful  theories, 
which  he  holds  pertinaciously,  and  supports  by 
all  manner  of  facts  and  reasoning.     For  abun- 

*  Ejid.     Charleston   Medical   Journal  and  Review  for  September, 
1854.,  p.  641. 


T  II  E    II  U  M  A  N    S  P  E  C  I  E  S  .  85 

dant  proof  of  these  statements  we  refer  to  his 
late  work  on  the  Natural  History  of  the  Hu- 
man Species,  in  which  he  seems  inclined,  on 
the  whole,  to  f\ivor  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of 
the  species,  but  strange  to  say,  finds  his  great- 
est difficulty  in  the  way  of  fully  adopting  this 
conclusion,  in  the  character  of  the  ancient  flat- 
head  Indians  of  South  America.  But  even  Dr. 
Morton  beheved  that  they  were  of  the  same 
race  with  other  tribes  now  in  existence  who  dis- 
figure the  heads  of  their  children   in  this  man- 


ner.* 


Col.  Smith  says  :  ''We  are  'inclined  to  believe 
there  are  sufficient  data  to  doubt  the  opinion 
that  the  different  races  of  domestic  dogs  are  all 
sprung  from  one  species,  and  still  more  that  the 
Wolf  was  the  sole  parent  in  question  ;  on  the 
contrary,  we  are  inclined  to  lean,  for  the  present, 
to  the  conjecture  that  several  species,  ab  origi- 
ne,  constructed  with  faculties  to  intermix,  in- 
cluding the  Wolf,  the  Buansu,  the  Anthus,  the 
Dingo,  and  the  Jackal,  were  the  parents  of  do- 
mestic dogs.     That   even   a   dhole,  or   a   thous 

•  Bacliman.  D.  D.     T'nify  of  the  Hum:m  Race,  etc.,  p.  296. 


86  THE    UNITY    OF 

may  have  been  the  progenitor  of  the  greyhound 
races  ;  and  that  a  lost  or  undiscovered  species,  al- 
hed  to  Canis  tricolor  ov  Hyaena  vejiatica  of  Bur - 
chell,  was  the  source  of  the  short-muzzled  and 
strong-jawed  races  of  primitive  mastiffs."'  No 
reasons  are  stated  for  those  gratuitous  "  conjec- 
tures,^^ as  the  writer  candidly  characterizes  them, 
at  the  same  time  that  he  says  "  his  mind  is  in- 
clined to  lean  to  them  ;^^  and  yet,  on  the  strength 
of  these  bare  "  conjectures,"  Col.  Smith  is  quot- 
ed by  Dr.  Morton  as  high  authority  for  his 
dogmatic  assertion  that  "  dissimilar  species  of 
the  dog  tribe  are  capable  of  producing  a  fertile 
hybrid  offspring."  In  view  of  so  convincing  a 
demonstration  of  the  errors  and  fallacies  of  Dr. 
Morton's  essays  on  this  subject,  we  cannot 
withhold  the  expression  of  our  surprise  that 
"Dr.  Nott's  ardor"  was  not  cooled.  And  yet 
so  it  was, — for  in  1851,  he  writes  in  Debow's 
Review:  "I  have  just  received  and  read  Dr. 
Morton's  reply  to  Dr.  Bachman's  essay  on  the 
question  of  Hybridity  as  a  Test  of  Species.  It 
is  the  most  perfect  refutation  I  have  ever  seen, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  one  will  ever  waste 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  87 

time  again  in  advocating  the  idea  that  prohfi- 
cacy  among  races  affords  an  evidence  of  com- 
mon origin."  He  has,  however,  himself  found 
it  necessary  to  employ  a  portion  of  his  own 
time  in  contributing  an  elaborate  chapter  on 
this  subject  in  the  "  Types  of  Mankind,"  and 
more  recently  still,  has  continued  the  discus- 
sion in  a  note  to  the  American  editor  of  Go- 
bineau's  "Moral  and  Intellectual  Diversity  of 
Races,"  notwithstanding  the  alleged  completely 
satisfactory  settlement  of  the  question  which 
had  resulted  from  Dr.  Morton's  last  paper.  We 
are  not  disposed  to  doubt  that  his  time  was  wast- 
ed. The  body  of  naturalists  have  not  agreed 
with  him,  either  as  to  the  merit  of  Dr.  Morton's 
paper,  or  as  to  the  soundness  of  the  doctrine 
which  he  advocated. 

We  are  indebted  to  an  intelligent  naturalized 
citizen  of  the  United  States  for  the  republica- 
tion of  the  suggestive  treatise  by  the  Count 
A.  de  Gobineau,  "  On  the  Intellectual  and  Mor- 
al Diversity  of  Races,"  which  he  has  enriched 
by  an  instructive  analytical  introduction,  and  to 


88  T  H  E    U  N  I  T  Y    0  F 

which  Dr.  IsTott  has  contributed  an  Appendix.* 
From  a  hasty  perusal  of  this  interesting  trea- 
tise, we  are  disposed  to  unite  in  the  commen- 
dation bestowed  upon  it  by  the  American  edi- 
tors. The  testimony  of  the  author  on  the  sub- 
ject now  under  consideration,  is  to  the  foUow- 
ing  effect:  ''The  observations  of  naturahsts 
seem  to  have  well  established  the  ftict  that  half- 
breeds  can  spring  only  from  nearly  allied  spe- 
cies, and  that  even  in  that  case  they  are  con- 
demned to  sterility.  It  has  been  fiu'ther  ob- 
served, that  even  among  closely  allied  species, 
where  fecundation  is  possible,  copulation  is  re- 
pugnant, and  obtained  generally  either  by  force 
or  ruse  ;  which  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that, 
in  a  state  of  nature,  the  number  of  hybrids  is 
even  more  limited  than  that  obtained  by  the 
intervention  of  man.  It  has  therefore  been 
concluded,  that  among  the  specific  characteris- 
tics we  must  place  the  faculty  of  producing 
prolific  offspring." 

*  The  Moral  and  Intellectual  Diversity  of  Races.  From  tlie  French 
of  the  Count  A.  de  Gobineau  ;  with  an  Analytical  Introduction  and 
copious  Historical  Notes.     By  H.  Hotz.     Philadelphia,  1856. 


T  H  E     H  U  M  A  N    S  P  E  C  I  E  S  .  89 

Such  testimony  compelled  Dr.  Nott  to  re- 
open the  discussion.  He  assumes  that  Count 
Gobineau  was  not  "posted  up"  on  the  subject 
of  hybridity, — though,  let  it  be  remembered,  he 
had  previously  asserted  that  Dr.  Morton  had  so 
completely  settled  that  question  in  1850,  as  to 
make  it  a  "  waste  of  time"  for  any  one  to 
advocate  the  old  doctrine  again.  Dr.  Notttheii 
takes  occasion  to  expound  and  defend  the  doc- 
trines of  his  school.  "We  contend," he  writes, 
"  that  there  is  a  regular  gradation  in  the  pro- 
lificness  of  the  species,  and  that,  according  to 
the  best  lights  we  possess,  there  is  a  continued 
series  from  perfect  sterility  to  perfect  pro- 
lificacy. The  degrees  may  be  expressed  in  the 
following  language  : 

"  I,  That  in  which  hybrids  never  reproduce  ; 
in  other  words,  where  the  mixed  progeny  be- 
gins and  ends  with  the  first  cross. 

"  II.  That  in  which  the  hybrids  are  incapable 
of  producing  i7iter  se,  but  multiply  by  union 
with  the  parent  stock. 

"III.  That  in  which  animals  of  unquestion- 
ably distinct  species  produce  a  progeny  which 


90  THE    UNITY    OF 

are  prolific  viter  se,  but  have  a  tendency  to  run 
out, 

"  lY.  That  which  takes  place  between  close- 
ly approximate  species;  among  mankind,  for 
example,  and  among  those  domestic  animals 
most  essential  to  human  wants  and  happiness  ; 
here  the  prolificacy  is  unlimited,"* 

About  the  first  two  propositions  there  is  no 
dispute.  We  admit  the  correctness  of  the 
third,  with  this  qualification,  however,  that  the 
fertility  is  partial  and  temporar}^,  rarel}'  if  ever 
extending  through  more  than  two  generations, 
and  consequently  the  "  running  out"  is  rapidly 
accomplished.  The  fourth  proposition  we 
wholly  object  to,  and  call  for  proof.  It  will 
scarcely  be  credited,  that  after  so  much  boast- 
ing as  characterizes  the  writings  of  Dr,  Nott  on 
this  subject,  he  should  find  it  necessary  to 
resort  to  such  a  device  as  this,  in  order  to 
establish  his  position.  He  argues,  namely,  that 
the  specific  diversity  of  the  human  races  is 
established  b}^  the  permanence  of  their  types, 
and  as  these  races  are  prolific  ifiter  se,  therefore 

*  Op.  cii.     Appendix  by  Dr.  Nott. 


THE    HUMAN     SPECIES.  91 

different  species,  provided  they  be  "  proximate," 
are   prolific  indefinitely.     In    other  words,   he 
begs  the  question  as  to  the  main  point, — namely, 
the  specific  relations  of  the   different  races  of 
men, — in  order  to  settle  an  incidental  and  sub- 
ordinate one,  and  then,  with  an  extraordinary 
perversion  of  the  simplest  rules  of  logic,  returns 
with  the   questionable  data   thus   acquired,  to 
fortify  the  position  he  had  already  unwarrant- 
ably  assumed.      Precisely  the  same   objection 
applies,  of  course,  to  his  only  other  example, 
that  of  the  races  of  Canis  famUiaris.    We  have 
already  seen  that  the   most  reliable   zoologists 
assert  with  confidence  the  specific   unity  of  all 
these  varieties,   notwithstanding   the   evidence 
afforded  by  the  Egyptian  monuments  in  regard 
to  the  early  origin  of  several  of  these  varieties, 
evidence   which  was  quite    as    well  known  to 
them  as  it  is  to  Dr.  Nott  ;  and   yet  the   latter, 
arbitrarily   assumhig   their    specific    diversity, 
finds  it  easy  enough,  of  course,  to  establish  the 
unlimited  fertility  of  such  "  proximate  species" 
as    these.      Accordingly  he    triumphantly  ex- 
claims :   "  Now  I  say  that  man  and  the  dog,  to 


92  THEUNITYOF 

say  nothing  of  other  examples,  form  that  Hnk 
of  perfect  prohficacy  of  tv/o  species  which  is 
called  for.  I  would  ask  in  all  candor,  what 
more  perfect  proof  does  the  case  admit  of? 
We  have  pointed  out  a  regular  gradation  in 
the  laws  of  hybridity,  and  we  then  produce 
species  that  are  perfectly  prolific,  and  which, 
according  to  all  the  criteria  by  which  species 
can  be  tested,  are  distinct.''  This  last  assertion 
is  certainly  cool,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  nearly 
all  the  most  eminent  zoologists  of  the  age  mam- 
tain  the  opposite  doctrine. 

We  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  this 
topic,  because  of  the  strenuous  efforts  which 
are  now  making,  under  cover  of  Dr.  Morton's 
name  and  reputation,  to  discredit  conclusions 
which  had  been  long  accepted  as  axioms  in 
Natural  History.  For  yet  further  details  we 
refer  our  readers  to  Dr.  Bachman's  writins-s  on 
this  subject  in  his  monograph  on  the  "  Unity 
of  the  Human  Race,"  and  in  his  contributions 
to  the  Charleston  Medical  Journal  and  Review, 
from  the  year  1850  down  to  the  present  time. 
We  are  satisfied  that  the  facts  which  he  has 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES,  93 

accumulated  are  sufficient  to  convince  any  un- 
biased mind  that  there  is  not  the  shghtest 
ground  for  accepting  the  new  doctrines  so 
earnestly  but  so  unsuccessfully  advocated  by 
Dr.  Morton  and  his  followers.* 

Having  dwelt  at  such  length  on  this  subject, 
we  must  content  ourselves  with  stating  merely 

*  The  writer  of  a  memoir  of  Dr.  Morton,  iu  '•  Types  of  Mankind," 
speaks  of  Dr.  Bachman  in  terms  of  bitter  contempt,  alleging  that  he 
is  more  of  a  theological  polemic  than  a  naturalist,  and  averring  that 
"he  has  his  punishment  in  general  condemnation  and  impaired  scien- 
tific standing."  We  feel  bound  to  say  that  we  have  seen  nothing  in 
the  tone  or  expressions  of  Dr.  Bachman's  scientific  papers  to  justify 
the  discourteous  epithets  applied  to  him  by  the  authors  of  "  Types  of 
Mankind;"  and  as  to  his  rank  as  a  naturalist  which  Dr.  Morton's 
fi-iend  and  biographer  so  directly  depreciated,  we  need  only  take  the 
testimony  of  Dr.  Morton  himself,  who,  addressing  Dr.  Bachman 
through  the  pages  of  the  "Charleston  Medical  Journal  and  Review," 
for  May,  1850,  used  the  following  language:  " I  fully  reciprocate  the 
kind  sentiments  you  have  expressed  with  respect  to  myself,  for  no 
difference  of  opinion  can  diminish  my  esteem  for  you  as  a  pian,  or 
lessen  my  admiration  for  one  u-ho,  hy  common  coment,  glands  in  the  front 
rank  of  American  Zoolog'j.'"  Nor  was  this  an  exaggerated  compli- 
ment, betokening  the  instinctive  courtesy  ratlier  than  indicating  the  de- 
liberate judgment  of  the  writer  ;  for  it  will  be  admitted  by  every  unprej- 
udiced student  of  natural  history  to  be  only  a  just  tribute  to  the 
learned  and  indefatigable  author  of  the  '■  Quadrupeds  of  North  Amer- 
ica." So  flir  as  the  '•  scientific  standing"  of  any  one  has  been  "  im- 
paired," as  the  result  of  the  discussion  on  liybridity,  it  is  certainly  not 
that  of  Dr.  Bachman.  On  the  other  hand,  as  sincere  admirers  of  Dr. 
Morton,  we  rejoice  that  his  title  to  a  lasting  reputation  rests  on  better 
grounds  than  the  loose  and  inaccurate  statements  and  inconsequential 
reasonings  of  his  essays  on  "  Hybridity  considered  with  Reference  to 
the  Unity  of  the  Human  Species  " 


94  T  H  E     U  N  1  T  Y    O  F 

the  conclusions  of  Dr.  Prichard,  respecting 
other  points  of  physiological  conformity.  The 
accuracy  of  these  conclusions  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned by  any  one  who  is  conversant  with  the 
evidence  on  which  they  rest.  "A  certain  uni- 
formity of  constitution,  or  a  constant  adherence, 
within  a  particular  range  of  variety,  to  certain 
laws  of  the  animal  economy,  belongs  to  the 
specific  character  of  each  original  race.  Par- 
ticular species  have  certain  limits  with  regard 
to  the  average  duration  of  life,  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  reproduction,  such  as 
the  number  of  their  progeny,  the  times  and 
frequency  of  breeding,  the  period  of  gestation 
in  mammifers,  and  in  birds  that  of  sitting  upon 
eggs,  and  in  the  length  of  time  during  which 
they  suckle  or  watch  over  their  young.  The 
progress  of  physical  development  and  decay  is 
likewise  ordained  by  nature  to  take  place  in 
each  species  according  to  a  certain  rule.  The 
periods  at  which  individuals  arrire  at  adult 
growth,  the  different  changes  which  the  consti- 
tution undergoes  at  particular  ages,  the  periods 
of  greatest  vigor  and  of  decline,  and  the  total 


THE     HUMAN     SPECIES.  95 

duration  of  life,  are  given,  though  with  individ- 
ual exceptions  and  varieties,  to  every  species 
of  animals.  There  are  exceptions  and  varia- 
tions, but  these  are  within  certain  prescribed 
limits  and  obey  definite  laws.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  may  be  observed  as  a  very  general 
fact,  that  animals  belonging  to  tribes  which 
nearly  resemble  each  other,  but  yet  are  specifi- 
cally distinct,  differ  in  a  decided  manner  with 
respect  to  the  same  particulars."* 

Yet  another  test  of  the  specific  relations  of 
animals  is  furnished  by  their  agreement  or  dif- 
ference in  psj^chological  characteristics.  Among 
the  lower  animals  we  find  every  species  charac- 
terized by  the  possession  of  instincts  and  pro- 
pensities peculiar  to  itself,  and  these  instincts 
often  differ  remarkably  in  species  presenting 
the  closest  structural  alliance.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  several  varieties  of  domesticated 
animals  belonging  to  one  and  the  same  species, 
notwithstanding  strongly  marked  diversities  of 
physical  structure,  we  may  recognize  instincts 
which   are  fundamentally  the    same,    although 

«  J.  C.  Prichard.     Op.  cit.,  p.  65. 


96  THE    UNITY    OF 

they  may  have  been  modified  by  the  contmued 
influence  of  man,  and  by  the  new  circum- 
stances in  which  the  animals  are  placed.* 

The  principles  which  it  has  been  our  aim  to 
6et  forth  and  illustrate  in  the  foregoing  re- 
marks, and  which  are  now  generally  recognized 
as  among  the  axioms  of  Xatural  History,  are 
drawn  up  by  Dr.  Carpenter  in  a  series  of 
formal  propositions,  an  abridgment  of  which, 
with  a  few  slight  modifications,  we  will  now 
present,  as  a  summary  recapitulation  of  the 
whole  subject. 

1.  Two  races  can  be  regarded  as  specifically 
distinct  only  when  the  characters  which  sepa- 
rate them  are  transmitted  with  complete  uni- 
formity from  parent  to  offspring  ;  when  there 
are  no  intermediate  gradations  tending  to  con- 
nect them  :  and  when  no  such  tendency  to 
variation  has  manifested  itself  in  either  race,  as 
shall  make  it  probable,  or,  at  an}^  rate,  possible, 
that  their  differences  may  be  the  direct  result 
of  external  influences,  or  may  be  attributed  to 
an  unusual  divergence  in  the  character  of  the 
offspring  from  those  of  the  parents. 

*  J.  C.  Pricliard.     Loc.  cit ;  and  Carpenter,   "  V'lridi&t  of  Munldnd 


4 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  97 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  two  races  may  un- 
doubtedly be  regarded  as  specifically  identical 
when,  however  great  the  differences  m  stature, 
conformation,  psychical  character,  etc.,  pre- 
sented by  their  respective  types,  these  types 
are  connected  with  each  other  by  intermediate 
gradations  so  close  as  to  render  it  impossible 
to  establish  a  definite  boundary  line  between  the 
collections  of  individuals  which  are  assembled 
around  them. 

3.  Again,  two  races  may  undoubtedly  be 
regarded  as  specifically  ideritical,  when,  in  either 
race,  varieties  present  themselves  which  ex- 
hibit the  distinctive  characters  of  the  other 
race  ;  since  we  then  have  evidence  that, 
although  these  peculiarities  are  so  generally 
transmitted  from  parent  to  offspring,  each  race 
possesses  a  certain  degree  of  permanence,  yet 
they  are  not  thus  uniformly  inherited  ;  and, 
consequently,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the 
transformation  of  the  one  race  into  the  other, 
if  the  circumstances  which  have  originated  the 
variation,  even  in  a  single  case,  should  act  with 

sufficient  potency  on  tlie  whole  mass. 
5 


98  THEUNITYOF 

4.  No  character  can  be  safely  adopted,  as 
justifying  the  assumption  of  the  specific  diver- 
sity of  two  races,  which  has  been  found  by 
experience  to  undergo  considerable  variation 
in  either  race,  even  though  such  modification 
should  not  proceed  to  the  extent  of  conversion 
into  the  character  of  the  other  ;  for  if  a  limited 
amount  of  change  in  external  conditions  be 
found  capable  of  effecting  a  certain  degree  of 
alteration,  the  probabilit}-  is  strong  that  the 
higher  difference  may  have  had  its  origin  in  the 
more  potent  operation  of  the  same  class  of 
causes. 

5.  The  very  fact  of  the  extensive  dispersion 
of  a  race,  and  of  its  existence  under  a  great 
variety  of  external  conditions,  implies  a  marked 
capacity  for  variation  ;  since,  without  such  ca- 
pacity, the  race  could  not   continue  to   flourish. 

6.  Among  the  domesticated  races  of  quad- 
rupeds, which  are  particularly  susceptible  of 
the  influences  tending  to  produce  permajievt 
varieties,  the  characters  most  susceptible  of 
variation  are  stature — general  conformation  oj 
the  body — conformation  of  the  skull — quantity. 


THE    H  L'  M  A  N    SPECIES.  99 

texture  and  color  of  the  hairy  covering — psychical 
character,  as  shown  in  the  increase  of  intelli- 
gence, in  the  acquirement  of  new  methods  of 
action,  and  in  the  disappearance  of  some  of  the 
natural  imtificiive  propensities. 

7.  The  several  races  of  animals  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  foregoing  criteria,  are  accounted 
as  belonging  to  the  same  species,  breed  freely 
and  spontaneously  with  each  other,  when  al- 
lowed to  do  so  ;  and  the  offspring  are  fertile, 
not  only  with  either  of  the  parent  races,  but 
with  each  other.  On  the  other  hand,  although 
propagation  may  take  place  between  individuals 
of  undoubtedly  distinct  species,  yet  there  is 
little  spontaneous  tendency  to  such  admixture  ; 
for  each  animal  will  select  one  of  its  own 
species  in  preference  to  one  of  another  species. 
The  hybrid  offspring  are  deficient  in  generative 
power  ;  so  that,  although  a  mule  may  be  fertile 
when  paired  with  an  individual  of  either  of 
the  parent  races,  it  is  seldom  or  never  fertile 
with  one  of  its  own  kind.  Thus  the  peculiari- 
ties introduced  by  hybridity  are  speedily  merged 
into  those  of  the  parent  stocks  ;    and   no  7iew 


100  THE    HUMAN    SPECIES. 

race  has  ever  been  known  to  originate  from  this 
kind  of  union. 

8.  Among  all  those  races  which  are  entitled 
to  rank  as  permanent  varieties  only,  the  physio- 
logical conformity  is  often  closer  than  the  struc- 
tural, 

9.  So,  again,  among  the  varieties  of  the  same 
species,  there  is,  with  subordinate  differences 
such  as  can  usually  be  traced  to  external  agen- 
cies and  particularly  to  human  influence,  a 
very  close  psychical  conformity  ;  the  capaci- 
ties of  the  several  races  being  fundamentally 
the  same,  although  varying  in  their  degree  of 
relative  development,* 

*  See  Carpenter  on   the  "  Varieties  of  Mankind  "  for   a  somewliat 
Tuller  summary. 


CHAPTER   III. 

A.PPLICATIOX  OF  THE  FOREGOIXG  PEIXCIPLES  TO  THE 
TXTESTIGATIOX  OF  THE  SPECIFIC  RELATIONSHIPS  OF 
THE    RACES    OF    MEX. 

We  propose  now  to  make  an  application  of  the 
general  principles  which  have  been  enunciated 
in  the  preceding  chapters,  to  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  the  specific  relationships  of  the  races 
of  mankind.  In  our  remarks,  designed  to  illus- 
trate the  general  propositions,  we  have  antici- 
pated much  that  might  otherwise  be  appro- 
priately stated  in  this  connection.  A  few  words 
will,  therefore,  suffice  for  the  present  applica- 
tion, at  least  with  respect  to  many  of  the  several 
heads. 

We  remark,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that 
inasmuch  as  the  records  of  profane  history  do 
not  extend  back  to  the  origin  of  any  of  the 
leading  divisions  of  the  human  family,  we  can 

[101] 


102  THEUNITYOF 

not,  of  course,  expect  a  direct  and  authorita- 
tive solution  of  the  question  from  that  quarter. 
We  might,   indeed,  consult  the  Mosaic  narra- 
tive,   and    quote    the    incidental    testimony   of 
St.   Paul,   and    this    too  without  violating   the 
principle  announced  in  our  first  chapter,  that 
the  inquir}^  should  be  pursued  as  one  of  pure 
science,  and    not  as  a  theological   speculation. 
It  is  one  thing  to  demand  assent  to  a  scien- 
tific   proposition,  on  the    ground    that    its    de- 
nial involves  a  conflict  with  some  theological 
dogma,   and  quite  a  different    thing   to  admit 
certain  historical  facts  on  the  testimony  of  the 
sacred  writers.     The  claims  of  the  Bible  to  be 
regarded  as  a  genuine  and  authentic  narrative, 
should    be    tested  by  the    same  canons  which 
serve   to   authenticate    any   other   history.     If 
these  claims  be  substantiated,  we  cannot  see  on 
what  fair  grounds  its  record  of  simple  facts  can 
be  set  aside  in  any  inquiry  in  which  these  facts 
have  a  most  important  bearing.     Men  of  science 
may  reasonably  object  to  the  admission  of  theo- 
logical   doctrines,   which    rest  upon    particular 
modes    of   interpreting  the   simple   facts  ;    but 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  103 

we  repeat  it,  if  the  record  be  duly  accredited, 
the  facts  are  just  as  vahd  in  matters  of  science 
as  though  they  were  reported  in  profane  his- 
tory,  and  this,    too,   even  wiien   we   set  aside 
altogether  the  fact  of  the  inspiration*  of  the 
sacred  writers.     Judging  Moses  simply  by  the 
.  extraordinary    agreement    of    his    cosmogony, 
when   properly   read   in    the    liglit    of   modern 
hermeneutics,  with  the  deductions   of  modern 
geology,  in  which  respect  it  is  in   amazing  con- 
trast with  the  cosmogonies  of  all  other  ancient 
writers,  we  should  be  bound  by  the  rules  of 
the    most    positive    philosophj^    to    give    due 
weight  to  such  interesting  facts,  and  to  admit 
both  the   credibility   and  the  authority  of  the 
sacred   historian.*     And   yet,   inasmuch  as  for 
reasons  already  stated  we  prefer,  in   general, 
to  support  the    Scriptures    by  the  results    of 
scientific  researches,  to  aiding  science  even  in 
its   narrative    department    by    means    of    the 
sacred  writings,  we  shall  not  insist  upon  mak- 
ing this  very  legitimate  use   of  the  facts  there 

'  See  a  Review  of  the  "  Six  Days  of  Creation,"  of  Prof  Taylor  Lewis, 
by  Prof  Dana,  in  the  Bililiotheoa  Sacra  for  Jan.,  1846,  p.  110. 


104  THE    UNITY    OF 

recorded,  though  we  have  thought  proper  to 
state  and  defend  the  position  which  has  just 
been  indicated. 

In  this  connection  we  are  called  upon  to 
notice  the  indefatigable  attempts  of  the  authors 
of  the  "  Tj'pes  of  Mankind,"  to  persuade  the 
reading  public  that  reliable  history  has  spoken 
unmistakably  in  favor  of  the  views  of  the  diver- 
sity-theory party.  We  refer  to  the  use  made 
by  them  of  the  fact,  that  the  negro  and  three 
other  leading  types  of  men  were  accurately 
delineated  on  the  monuments  of  Egypt  several 
thousand  years  ago.  But  as  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  remark,  the  famous  "  monu- 
mental history  of  man  "'  throws  no  light  at  all 
upon  the  obscure  question  of  the  origin  of  the 
different  leading  human  types.  Whatever  date 
be  assigned  to  these  inscriptions,  there  must 
have  been  an  antecedent  period  quite  long 
enough  to  have  given  origin  to  any  num- 
ber of  types.  We  can  easily  imagine  various 
explanations  of  the  manner  in  which  different 
types  might  have  arisen  in  the  period  anterior 
to    the     date    of    the     Egyptian     monuments, 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  105 

whether  under  the  influence  of  Ucatural  causes, 
favorable  to  the  development  of  an  orighial 
coDstitutioual  tendency  to  spontaneous  varia- 
tion, or  in  virtue  of  a  more  direct  and  miracu- 
lous interposition  of  God  in  the  case  of  the 
three  sons  of  Noah,  in  accordance  with  a  com- 
mon interpretation  of  the  curse  of  Canaan,  and 
the  blessing  of  Shem  and  Japheth,  as  recorded 
in  Genesis  ix.  :  25-27.  But  we  do  not  feel 
called  upon  to  indulge  in  any  speculation  on 
this  point.  We  hold,  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  recognized  by  the  best  naturalists,  as 
just  cited  at  length,  that  the  specific  unity  of 
permanent  varieties  may  be  established  in  nu- 
merous instances  in  which  there  is  no  historical 
record  of  the  origin  of  the  several  variations. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  significant  fact,  that  while 
the  oldest  monumental  records  extend  back, 
according  to  Birch  and  Lepsius,  to  about  3890 
B.  C,  no  Jiegro  deli?ieatio?i,  as  admitted  by  the 
authors  of  "  Types  of  Mankind,"  (p.  259,)  is 
found  earlier  than  the  24:ih  century  B.  C.  Just 
here  we  are  constrained  to  call  attention  to  their 
apparently  disingenuous  way  of  recording  this 


106  THE    UNITY    OF 

fact.  So  far  from  adverting  to  the  interval  of 
more  than  a  thousand  years  hefwoen  the  date 
of  the  oldest  negro  delineation  and  that  of  the 
earlier  records,  the}"  speak  of  the  former  as  "con- 
temporary with  the  earliest  Egyptians  ;"  whereas 
it  is  seen  that  the  monumental  inscriptions,  so 
far  from  demonstrating  the  contemporaneous 
origin  of  the  black  and  white  races,  furnish  a 
strong  presumption  against  this  doctrine.  Ac- 
cordingly BuNSEN  and  Lepsius,  whom  the 
authors  of  the  "  Types  of  Mankind"  were  con- 
strained to  accredit  as  the  most  eminent  and 
reliable  of  living  Egyptologists,  are  both  earnest 
advocates  of  the  specific  unity  and  of  the  com- 
mon origin  of  the  human  races  ;  and  yet,  in 
the  teeth  of  this  fact,  Nott  and  Gliddon  com- 
placently ascribe  the  same  opinions  as  expressed 
by  Prof.  Owen,  Count  Gobineau,  and  others,  to 
their  ignorance  of  the  "  monumental  history  of 
man." 

But,  though  it  was  not  necessary  for  our  gene- 
ral argument  to  demonstrate  the  origin  within 
historic  times  of  any  of  the  leading  t3"pes  of 
mankind,  we  are  not  without  evidence  of  the 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  107 

appearance  of  new  varieties  within  a  compara- 
tively recent  period.  The  Hon.  J.  R,  Poinsett 
made  to  Dr.'Bachman  the  following  statement ; 
"  I  saw  in  the  capital  of  Mexico  a  regiment  of 
six  hundred  men,  called  Los  Pintados,  who 
were  all  spotted  with  blue  spots  in  some  part 
of  the  body.  These  people  are  found  along  the 
Pacific  coast  just  north  of  Acapulco."  "  These 
persons  were  all  in  fine  health,  t,nd  propagated 
their  varieties  from  generation  to  generation. 
"What  there  was  in  the  food,  the  climate,  or  the 
geological  structure  of  the  we=?tern  coast  of 
America  to  produce  this  strangely-colored  va- 
riety in  the  human  species  we  are  unable  even 
to  conjecture.  It  was  certainly  not  disease,  as 
Mr.  Poinsett  represents  them  as  a  regiment  of 
tine,  healthy-looking  men,  in  which  there  was 
not  a  solitary  individual  who  was  not  spotted 
in  this  manner.  If  our  opponents  who  are 
busily  engaged  in  making  new  species  of  men, 
should,  on  this  hint,  begin  to  speculate  on  the 
position  this  new  species  of  Homo  macidatus 
should  occupy  in  our  nomenclature,  we  would 
just    remind  them   that    they  have  originated 


108  THE    UNITY    OF 

since  the  discovery  of  America,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  a  mixture  of  Spanish  and  Indian 
blood."* 

Dr.  jSTott  asserts,  that  "the  genus  Homo  em- 
braces many  primordial  types  or  species  which 
have  remained  permanent  and  untrandtional 
through  all  recorded  time,  and  despite  the  most 
opposite  moral  and  physical  influences."  But 
we  have  just  seen  that  the  argument  intended 
to  be  expressed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sen- 
tence does  not  by  any  means  sustain  the  asser- 
tion which  prefaces  it.  For  "  all  recorded  time" 
does  not  cover  the  entire  history  of  an}'  one 
species,  if  we  exclude,  as  this  gentleman  does 
exclude,  all  the  writings  of  Moses.  The  alleged 
fact,  if  it  were  true, — and  we  have  seen  that, 
according  to  the  statements  of  Lepsiusand  Birch, 
and  by  Dr.  N'ott's  own  admission,  it  is  wholly  with- 
out "  monumental"  proof  as  regards  the  negro 
race  for  at  least  one  thousand  years, — would  only 
furnish  a  slight  presumption  in  favor  of  his  opin- 
ion :  and  this  presumption  would  even  then  be 
easily   set  aside   by  numerous   and    convincing 

*  J.  Bachman,  D.  D.     On  the  Unity  of  the  Human  Race,  etc..  p.  1S2. 


T  H  p:   human  species.  109 

considerations.  But  in  j^oint  of  fact,  the  asser- 
tion that  the  types  of  men  have  remained  "  per- 
nianent  and  itntransitional  through  all  recorded 
time"  is  directly  opposed  to  the  statements  of 
the  most  eminent  ethnologists  and  travellers. 
Thus  Dr.  Carpenter  states,  as  the  result  of  the 
researches  of  Prichard,  Latham,  and  others,  that 
"the  Magyar  race  in  Hungary,  which  is  not 
now  inferior  in  mental  or  physical  characters  to 
any  in  Europe,  is  proved  by  historical  and  phil- 
ological evidence  to  have  been  a  branch  of  the 
great  northern  Asiatic  stock,  which  was  ex- 
pelled about  ten  centuries  since  from  the 
country  it  then  inhabited  (bordering  on  the 
Uralian  mountains),  and  in  its  turn  expelled 
Slavonian  nations  from  the  fertile  parts  of  Hun- 
gary, which  it  has  occupied  ever  since.  Hav- 
ing thus  exchanged  their  abode,  in  the  most 
rigorous  climate  of  the  old  continent — a  wilder- 
ness in  which  the  Ostiaks  and  Samoiedes 
pursue  the  chase  during  only  the  mildest  sea- 
son— for  one  in  the  south  of  Europe,  amid 
fertile  plains  abounding  in  rich  harvests,  the 
Magyars  grad^ially  laid  aside  the  rude  and  sav- 


110  THE    UNITY    OF 

age  habits  whicli  they  are  recorded  to  have 
brought  with  them,  and  adopted  a  more  set- 
tled mode  of  Ufe.  In  the  course  of  a  thousand 
years,  their  type  of  cranial  conformation  has 
been  changed  from  the  pyramidal  (or  Mongol) 
to  the  elliptical  (or  Caucasian)  ;  and  they  have 
become  a  handsome  people,  with  fine  stature 
and  regular  European  features,  with  just  enough 
of  the  Tartar  cast  of  countenance,  in  some 
instances,  to  recall  their  origin  to  mind.  Here 
it  may  be  said  that  the  intermixture  of  the 
conquering  with  the  conquered  race  has  had  a 
great  share  in  bringing  about  this  change  :  but 
the  Magj'ars  pride  themselves  greatly  on  the 
purity  of  their  descent  ;  and  the  small  infusion 
of  Slavonic  blood,  which  may  have  taken  place 
from  time  to  time,  is  by  no  means  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  complete  change  of  type  which 
now  manifests  itself.  The  women  of  pure  Mag- 
yar race  are  said  by  good  judges  to  bo  singu- 
larly beautiful,  far  surpassing  either  German 
or  Slavonian  females.  A  similar  modification, 
but  less  in  degree,  appears  to  have  taken  place 
among  the  Finnish  tribes  of  Scandinavia.    These 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  Ill 

may  be  almost  certainly  affirmed  to  have  had 
the  same  origin  with  the  Lapps  ;  but  whilst  the 
latter  retain  (although  inhabiting  Europe)  the 
nomadic  habits  of  their  Mongolian  ancestors, 
the  former  have  adopted  a  much  more  settled 
mode  of  Hfe,  and  have  made  considerable 
advances  in  civilization.  And  thus  we  have  in 
the  Lapps,  Finns,  and  Magyars,  three  nations 
or  tribes,  of  whose  descent  from  a  common 
stock  no  reasonable  doubt  can  be  entertained, 
and  which  yet  exhibit  the  most  marked  differ- 
ences in  cranial  characters,  and  also  in  general 
conformation, — the  Magyars  being  tall  and  well 
made,  as  the  Lapps  are  short  and  uncouth."* 

Hugh  Miller,  advocating  the  doctrine  that 
the  Caucasian  type  was  the  type  of  Adamic 
man,  and  that  all  the  varieties  of  the  species, 
in  which  we  find  humanity  "  fallen,"  according 
to  the  poet,  "into  disgrace,"  are  varieties  that 
have  lapsed  from  the  original  Caucasian  type, 
avers  that  "there  are  cases  in  which  not  more 
than   from   two   to   three   centuries  have  been 

*  W.  B.  Carpenter      Op.  cit ,  p.  1328 ;  where  also  several  other  in- 
stances are  cited. 


112  THEUNITYOF 

found  sufficient  thoroughly  to  alter  the  original 
physiognomy  of  a  race,"  and  quotes  a  striking 
and  well-known  case  in  point:  "  On  the  plan- 
tation in  Ulster,  in  1611,  and  afterwards,  on  the 
success  of  the  British  against  the  rebels  in  1641 
and  1689,''  says  a  shrewd  writer  of  the  present 
day,  himself  an  Irishman,  "great  multitudes 
of  the  native  Irish  were  driven  from  Armagh 
and  the  south  of  Down,  into  the  mountainous 
tract  extending  from  the  Barony  of  Fleurs  east- 
ward to  the  sea  ;  on  the  other  side  of  the  king- 
dom the  same  race  were  exposed  to  the  worst 
effects  of  hunger  and  ignorance,  the  two  great 
brutalizers  of  the  human  race.  The  descend- 
ants of  these  exiles  are  now  distinguished  phys- 
ically by  great  degradation.  They  are  re- 
markable for  open  projecting  mouths,  with 
prominent  teeth  and  exposed  gums  ;  and  their 
advancing  cheek-bones  and  depressed  noses 
bear  barbarism  on  their  very  front.  In  Sligo 
and  Northern  Mayo,  the  consequences  of  the 
two  centuries  of  degradation  and  hardship  ex- 
hibit themselves  in  the  whole  physical  condition 
of  the  people,   affecting  not  only  the  features 


THE    HUMAN    S  r  E  C  lllS'.r  ^  ^'  -frA  "* '^  '^ 

but  the  frame.  Five  feet  two  inclies  on  an 
average  —  pot-bellied,  bow-legged,  abortively 
featured,  their  clothing  a  wisp  of  rags  —  these 
spectres  of  a  people  that  were  once  well-grown, 
able-bodied,  and  comely,  stalk  abroad  into  the 
daylight  of  civilization,  the  annual  apparition  of 
Irish  ugliness  and  Irish  want." 

Agassiz  and  Dr.  Morton  agree  that  all  the 
aboriginal  tribes  of  America,  except  only  the 
Esquimaux,  had  a  common  origin,  and  yet  the 
widest  diversities  are  admitted  to  exist  among 
them  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  cranium,  shape 
of  the  head,  stature,  color,  and  character  of  the 
hair.  Dr.  Morton  himself  bears  very  decided 
testimony  on  most  of  these  points.*  Catliu, 
speaking  of  the  Mandans  of  the  Upper  Mis- 
souri, whose  fairness  of  complexion  is  prover- 
bial, says  :  "  A  stranger  in  the  Mandan  village 
is  first  struck  with  the  different  shades  of  com- 
plexion and  various  colors  of  hair  which  he 
sees  in  a  crowd  about  him,  and  is  at  once  al- 
most disposed  to  exclaim  that  '  these  are   not 

*  S.  G.   Morton.      "  Physical  Type   of  the  American  Indians" ;    in 
Schoolcraft's  "Indian  Tribes,"  vol.ii. 


114  THE    UNITY    OF 

Indians.'  There  are  a  great  many  of  these 
people  whose  complexions  appear  as  light  as 
half-breeds  ;  and  amongst  the  women  particu- 
larly, there  are  many  whose  skins  are  almost 
white,  with  the  most  pleasing  symmetry  and 
proportion  of  featm^es  ;  with  hazel,  with  grey, 
and  with  blue  eyes — with  mildness  and  sweet- 
ness of  expression,  and  excessive  modesty  of 
demeanor,  which  renders  them  exceedingly 
pleasing  and  beautiful."  Their  "hair  is  gene- 
rally as  fine  and  as  soft  as  silk."  "  There  ar-e 
very  many,"  how^ever,  "  of  both  sexes  and  of 
every  age,  with  hair  of  a  bright  silvery  grey." 
"  I  have  ascertained  that  this  strange  phenom- 
enon is  not  the  result  of  disease  ;  but  that  it  is 
unquestionably  a  hereditary  character  which 
runs  in  families,  and  indicates  no  inequahty  in 
disposition  or  intellect."  * 

The  same  phenomenon  of  a  gradational  se- 
ries, exhibited  under  such  circumstances  as  to 
demonstrate  the  transitional  character  of  the 
features  usually  regarded  as  typical,  is  striking- 
ly exemplified  in  the  case  of  the  African  tribes. 

*  Catlin's  Nortli  American  Indians.    Vol.  I.,  p.  94. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES, 


115 


These  are  very  generally  admitted  to  have 
sprung  from  a  common  stock.  Thus  the  Chev- 
alier Lepsius,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Nott  (Types  of 
Mankind,  p.  233),  uses  the  following  language  : 
"You  speak  of  a  gradation  of  the  African 
tribes  from  the  Cape  to  the  northern  portion 
of  the  Continent.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the 
languages  of  the  Hottentots  and  of  the  Bosje- 
mans  are  essentially  different  from  those  of  all 
the  rest  of  the  continent  up  to  the  equator. 
And  what  is,  perhaps,  still  more  curious,  their 
language  bears  certain  characteristic  traits 
which  elsewhere  are  only  found  in  the  lan- 
guages of  North-E astern  Africa.  In  my  opin- 
ion, the  tvhok  continent  had,  at  a  certain 
epoch,  a  parent  poimlation,  and  consequently 
analogous  tongues.  At  a  later  period  Asiatic 
tribes  immigrated  on  the  side  of  the  North- 
East.  The  mixture  of  races  gave  rise  to  the 
numerous  tribes  and  to  the  scattered  and  ap- 
parently incoherent  languages  which  are  now 
found  in  the  broad  belt  between  the  line 
and  tlie  fifteenth  degree  of  north  latitude. 
These  languages  have  lost  their  African  charac- 


116  THEUNITYOF 

ter  without  acquiring  that  of  Asia  ;  but  the  ba- 
sis of  the  languages  and  of  the  blood  is  African." 
According  to  Dr.  Shaw,  as  quoted  b}^  PracH- 
ARD,'-'"  while  "the  Kabyles  in  general  are  of  a 
swarthy  color,  with  dark  hair,  those  who  inhabit 
the   mountains   of  Auress,   or   Mons   Aurarius, 
though  they  speak  the  same  language,  are  of  a 
fair  and  ruddy  complexion,  and  their  hair  is  of 
a   deep   yellow."      Dr.   Prichard    appends   this 
comment:  "Writers  who  labor  under  the  preju- 
dice which  regards   all  physical   characters   as 
permanent,    adopt    the    supposition,    'perfectly 
groundless  as  it  is,  that  the  xanthous  Berbers  of 
Mount  Auress  are  the  remains  of  the  Yandals 
who  were  conquered  by  Belisarius.     The  Tua- 
rj\i  are  in  some  parts  white,   in  others  black, 
but  without  the  features  of  negroes." 

The  Berberines,  or  Nubians  of  the  Nile,  ap- 
pear to  be  the  descendants  of  the  Nobatse,  who 
were  brought  fifteen  centuries  ago  from  an 
oasis  in  the  Western  country  by  Diocletian,  to 
inhabit  the  vahey  of  the  Nile.  They  are  one 
of  those  races  whose  complexion  is  a  mixture 

*  J.  C.  Prichard.     Op.  cit.,  p.  271. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  117 

of  red  and  black,  and  whose  physical  characters 
bear  some  analogy  to  those  of  the  Egyptians. 
They  are,  however,  much  darker  in  color  than 
were  that  nation,  though  the  shade  of  both 
varied.  Brown,  a  most  accurate  writer,  de- 
scribes the  people  in  the  Island  of  Elephantine 
as  black,  but,  in  the  opposite  Assouan,  of  a  red 
color,  with  the  features  of  Nubians.  Dr.  Riip- 
pell  thus  describes  their  physiognomy  :  "A  long 
oval  countenance  ;  a  beautifully  curved  nose, 
somewhat  rounded  towards  the  tip  ;  hps  rather 
thick,  but  not  protruding  excessively  ;  a  re- 
treating chin  ;  scanty  beard  ;  livel}^  eyes  ; 
strongly  frizzled  but  never  woolly  hair  ;  a  re- 
markably beautiful  figure,  generally  of  middle 
size,  and  a  bronze  color,  are  the  characteristics 
of  the  genuine  Dongolawi."  The  most  inter- 
esting fact  connected  with  this  race  is,  that 
they  appear,  if  we  may  place  reliance  on  his- 
torical evidence,  to  furnish  an  instance  of  the 
transition  from  the  physical  character  of  the  ne- 
gro to  one  very  similar  to  that  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians.^'' 

*  J.  C.  Prichard.     Op.  cit ,  pp.  273-275.     See  also  "Researches  into 


118  THE    UNITY    OF 

The  proof  of  this  last  statement  is  given  by 
Dr.  Prichard,  in  his  Physical  History  of  Man, 
and  is  entirely  satisfactor}-.  "Has  the  change 
which  has  taken  place,"  he  asks,"  inthe  phj^sical 
character  of  the  Nubian  race  arisen  from  an 
abode  during  so  many  ages  in  a  climate  differ- 
ent from  that  of  their  native  wilderness,  aided 
by  the  modifying  influence  of  civihzation  and 
the  habits  of  a  settled  and  agricultural  life,  or 
is  it  to  be  ascribed  to  intermixture  of  race  ? 
Those  who  are  fully  persuaded  to  regard  all  the 
varieties  of  physical  structure  which  distinguish 
human  races  as  permanent  characters,  will  im- 
mediately decide  in  favor  of  the  latter  alterna- 
tive ;  but  if  we  regard  that  point  as  still  unde- 
termined, and  form  our  opinion  from  the  cir- 
cumstances and  probabilities  of  the  particular 
case  in  question,  we  shall  adopt,  unless  I  am 
mistaken,  a  different  inference.  It  may  be  ob- 
served, in  relation  to  this  inquiry,  that  it  is  not 
easy  to  conceive  how  the  abode  of  Arab  hordes 
in  different  parts    of   Nubia  could    produce    a 

the  Physical  History  of  Man,"  by  the  same  Author.  Vol.  ii..  pp.  172- 
183,  for  an  analysis  of  the  evidence  relating  to  the  history  and  ethnog- 

rap'.iy  oftliis  people. 


THE    HUMAN     SPECIES.  119 

general  modification  in  the  physical  character 
of  the  whole  Barabra  race.  Occasional  inter- 
marriages have  doubtless  taken  place,  and  the 
result  has  been  manifest  in  individuals  ;  but 
these  incidental  crossings  of  breed  coukl  hardly 
modif}^  the  whole  nation.  It  is  known  that  the 
impression  of  one  such  mixture  is  lost  in  a  few 
generations.  In  order  that  the  blending  of 
families  belonging  to  different  stocks  may  pro- 
duce a  third  tribe  of  intermediate  character,  it 
is  requisite  that  the  two  parent  races  should 
be  mixed  in  nearly  equal  proportions  ;  since 
when  a  few  families  of  one  stock  are  from  time 
to  time  blended  with  a  large  population  belong- 
ing to  another,  the  impression  is  speedily 
effaced,  and  the  offspring  becomes  assimilated 
to  the  greater  number.  Hence,  intermixtures 
of  whole  nations  or  of  considerable  numbers  or 
masses  can  hardly  take  place  in  such  a  way  as 
to  give  rise  to  a  uniform  intermediate  stock. 
The  result  is  always  that  in  one  locality  one 
physical  character,  and  in  another  a  different 
type,  predominates.  It  is  perhaps  for  this  rea- 
son more  probable  that  the  uniform   and  gen- 


120  THE    UNITY    OF 

eral  change  of  physical  character  which  the 
Nubian  nation  has  undergone  since  their  re- 
moval from  Kordofan  to  the  Nile  has  arisen 
from  a  different  cause  ;  and  this  supposition 
seems  to  be  confirmed  by  all  that  we  can  learn 
respecting  the  past  and  present  circumstances 
and  relations  of  the  two  races  of  jjeople  who 
are  sujjposed  to  have  become  intermixed.  Ac- 
cording to  Burckhardt,  Nubia  was  conquered 
or  overrun,  after  the  reduction  of  Egypt,  by 
several  Arab  tribes,  among  whom  the  principal 
were  the  Djowabere  and  El  Gharbye,  who  for 
some  centuries  waged  continued  warfare  with 
each  other.  In  the  meantime  the  Barabra,  as 
we  learn  from  many  authorities,  remained  a 
separate  people,  and  maintained  the  Christian 
religion,  to  which  they  had  been  converted  in 
the    sixth     century.'^      Saldi     El    Assouany, 

*  See  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall.  Chap,  xlvii. — After  adverting  to 
the  relapse  of  the  Nubians  into  paganism,  and  their  subsequent  adop- 
tion of  ilohammedauism.  preferring  its  ti-iuinphs  to  the  degradation 
of  the  cross.  Gibbon  asserts,  on  the  authority  of  Buffon,  that  tliey  are 
pure  Negroes,  as  black  a.s  those  of  Senegal,  with  flat  noses,  thick  lips 
and  woolly  hair.  Such  phy.4cal  characters  doubtless  belonged  to 
them  originally,  but  it  is  needless  to  add  that  Buffon' s  assertions  are 
entitled  to  no  weight  in  opposition  to  the  testimony  of  Eiippell  (wlio 
resided    long    among   the  Barabra)  respecting  the   actual    character- 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  121 

whose  description  of  Nubia  and  Ethiopia  is 
largely  cited  by  Macrizi,  says  that  the  Nubians 
of  his  day  were  Jacobite  Christians,  and  he  de- 
clares them  to  be  a  people  of  superior  intelli- 
gence to  the  neighboring  nations,  Salamoum, 
king  of  Dongola,  according  to  the  information 
collected  by  Burckhardt,  was  a  powerful  Chris- 
tian prince  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. Ibn  Batuta,  who  travelled  in  their  coun- 
try, found  the  Nubians  a  Christian  people, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
The  present  inhabitants  are  Moslemin,  and 
they  pretend,  like  other  Mohammedan  nations, 
to  be  of  Arabian  origin  ;  but  Macrizi  says,  that 
the  greater  number  of  genealogists  state  them 
to  be  descendants  of  Ham,  by  which  it  was 
meant  that  they  were  a  genuine  African  peo- 
ple. It  would  seem  that  in  former  times  a 
total  difference  in  religion   and  manners  must 

istics  of  this  people.  The  description  giyen  of  them  by  modern  travel- 
lers leaves  no  room  for  doubt.  Accordingly,  it  is  now  universally 
conceded  that  they  are  no  longer  Negroes,  the  change  being  ascribed 
by  some,  as  we  have  seen,  to  intermixture  of  races ;  while  Nott  and 
Gliddon,  driven  by  the  necessities  of  their  system,  gratuitously  assert 
that  they  never  were  Negroes,  and  that  the  present  type  is  aboriginal. 
See  Types  of  Mankind,  p.  199. 

6 


122  THE    UNITY    OF 

have  prevented  the  Barabra  and  their  Arab 
conquerors  from  becoming  mixed.  In  modern 
times  we  are  assured  that  the  two  races  remain 
quite  distinct,  and  that  intermarriages  between 
the  Arabs  and  Berberins  are  very  rare  occur- 
rences. This  is  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Riippell, 
whose  information  is  to  be  depended  upon. 
The  habits  of  the  two  races  are  totally  differ- 
ent. The  Barabra  are  husbandmen,  who  live 
together  in  small  villages  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile,  and  occupy  themselves  in  tilling  the  land. 
The  free  Arabs  hold  them  in  contempt,  and 
think  it  beneath  them  to  speak  the  language 
of  the  Barabras."* 

We  have  thought  proper  to  quote  at  some 
length  the  arguments  of  the  learned  and  cau- 
tious Prichard,  relating  to  the  origin  of  the 
Barabra  and  their  subsequent  change  of  type, 
as  a  specimen  of  his  method  of  thorough  inves- 
tigation, but  inasmuch  as  our  limits  will  not 
permit  us  to  follow  him  in  his  detailed  survey 
of  the  other  African  tribes,  we  avail  ourselves 

*  J.  0.  Prichard.     Physical   History  of  Mankind.     London,  1851. 
Vol.  ii.,  pp.  181,  183. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECFES.  123 

of  an  admirable  summary  of  results,  which  we 
find  in  an  able  article  of  the  Southern  Quar- 
terly Review,  for  January,  1855.  Making  a 
rapid  circuit  of  the  vast  African  continent,  and 
under  the  guidance  of  reliable  travellers  whose 
authority  cannot  be  questioned  glancing  at  its 
multitudinous  tribes,  the  writer  shows  that 
"  in  the  whole  range  we  discover  the  same  end- 
less variations  and  gradational  blendings  be- 
tween the  widest  extremes,  exhibited  by  all  the 
other  people  of  the  earth.  In  color,  they  vary 
through  every  shade,  between  the  appropriate 
European  that  sometimes  appeared  in  Egypt, 
and  still  exists  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mount 
Atlas,  and  the  polished  ebony  of  the  thoroughly 
dyed  negro.  In  physiognomy,  they  range  be- 
tween the  elegant  Grecian  outline,  and  the 
exaggerated  monstrosity  of  prognathous  devel- 
opment. In  texture  of  hair,  they  exhibit  every 
grade,  from  the  soft  Asiatic  and  even  auburn 
locks  of  some  Egyptians  and  of  the  Auranian 
Berbers,  through  the  long  and  plaited  ringlets. 
of  the  Morooran  Kaffirs,  the  short  and  crisp 
curls  of  the  Nubian  Berberines,  the  thick  and 


124  THE    UNITY    OF 

frizzled  half  wolf-like  covering  of  the  diflfused 
Gallas,  and  the  still  more  woolly-head  growth 
of  the  sagacious  Fellahs,  to  the  thoroughly 
developed  negro  tufts  of  the  Guinea  tribes.  In 
every  important  particular  that  marks  varieties 
of  men,  the  inhabitants  of  Africa  vary  with 
such  indefinite  blendings  of  one  grade  into 
another,  between  the  Caucasian  standard  and 
the  lowest  negro  specimen,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  draw  a  line  of  division  at  any  point  of  the 
skull,  and  affirm,  here  one  type  ends  and  an- 
other begins."* 

Baron  Humboldt  (who,  by  the  way,  is  quite 
as  well  acquainted  wath  the  monumental  history 
of  man  as  Dr.  jSTott  can  be)  says  :  "  Whilst  at- 
tention was  exclusively  directed  to  the  extremes 
of  color  and  of  form,  the  result  of  the  first 
vivid  impressions,  derived  from  the  senses,  was 
a  tendency  to  view  these  diff'erences  as  charac- 
teristics, not  of  mere  varieties,  but  of  originally 
distinct  species.  The  permanence  of  certain 
iypes,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  opposite  influ- 
ences, especially  of  climate,  appeared  to  favor 

*^'  Southern  Quarterly  Review,  January,  1855.  p.  1-48. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  125 

this  view,  notwithstanding  the  shortness  of  the 
time  to  which  the  historical  evidence  appHed  ; 
but,  in  my  opinion,  more  powerful  reasons  lend 
their  weight  to  the  other  side  of  the  question, 
and  corroborate  the  unity  of  the  human  race. 
I  refer  to  the  many  intermediate  gradations  of 
the  tint  of  the  skin^  and  the  form  of  the  skull, 
which  have  been  made  known  to  us  by  the 
rapid  progress  of  geographical  sciences  in  mod- 
ern times  ;  to  the  analogies  derived  from  the 
histor}^  of  varieties  in  animals,  both  domesti- 
cated and  wild  ;  and  to  the  positive  observations 
collected  respecting  the  limits  of  fertility  in 
hybrids.  The  greater  part  of  the  supposed 
contrasts  to  which  so  much  weight  was  formerly 
assigned,  have  disappeared  before  the  laborious 
investigations  of  Tiedemann  on  the  brain  of 
negroes  and  of  Europeans,  and  the  anatomical 
researches  of  Yrolik  and  Weber  on  the  form  of 
the  pelvis.  When  we  take  a  general  view  of 
the  dark-colored  African  nations,  on  which  the 
work  of  Prichard  has  thrown  so  much  light, 
and  when  we  compare  them  with  the  natives  of 
the  Australian  Islands,  and  with  the  Papuans 


126  THE    UNITY    OF 

and  Alfourans,  we  see  that  a  black  tint  of  skin, 
woolly  hair,  and  negro  features,  are  by  no  means 
invariably  associated."  "  Mankind  are  there- 
fore distributed  in  varieties,  which  we  are  often 
accustomed  to  designate  by  the  somewhat  vague 
appellation  of  races."* 

Such  being  the  unanimous  testimony  of 
travellers  with  respect  to  the  actual  diversities, 
in  almost  every  conceivable  shade  of  gradation, 
among  tribes  admitted  to  have  sprung  from  a 
common  stock,  is  it  not  surprising  that  even  the 
prejudiced  authors  of  the  "  Tyi)es  of  Mankind," 
should  hazard  the  assertion  that  the  types  of 
men  are  untransitional  If     In  point  of  fact,  the 

*  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  Sabine's  translation,  Vol.  i.,  p.  351.  Having 
argued  convincingly  in  favor  of  the  specific  unity  of  men,  this  illus- 
trious philosopher  adds  the  following  reflection  :  "  By  maintaining 
the  unity  of  the  human  species,  we  at  the  same  time  repel  the  cheer- 
less assumption  of  superior  and  inferior  races  of  men.''  This  passage 
is  quoted  in  the  "  Types  of  Mankind,"  with  such  comments  as  to  imply 
that  the  tender  sensibility  of  the  amiable  savant  in  view  of  the  cheer- 
lessness  of  the  diversity  doctrine  was  the  main  or  only  cause  of  his 
rejection  of  it,  wholly  ignoring  the  positive  statements  which  we 
have,  in  part,  quoted,  and  wliich  immediately  preceded  the  sentence  in 
question. 

t  We  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  Dr.  Nott,  in  asserting  that 
liuman  types  are  "  untransitional,"  has  reference  exclusively  to  the 
question  of  changes  actually  taking  place  in  any  given  type.  He,  of 
course,  cannot  deny  that  these  types  closely  approximate  in  a  grada- 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  127 

shades  of  difference  are  so  numerous,  and  they 
run  into  each  other  by  such  gradational  changes, 
that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  agree  upon  the 
number  of  distinct  varieties.  No  two  ethnol- 
ogists make  the  same  classification.  Now  this 
fact  strikes  us  as  furnishing  a  satisfactory  refu- 
tation of  the  views  so  confidently  promulgated 
by  the  new  school  of  American  ethnologists. 
If  anatomy,  zoology,  the  laws  which  regulate 
the  geographical  distribution  of  animals  and  the 
monumental  literature  of  Egypt,  prove,  the  ex- 
istence of  numerous  primeval  types  of  men,  of 
course  they  indicate  the  exact  number,  since  they 
do  not  announce  an  abstract  proposition,  but 
teach  by  actual  examples.  But  is  there  even  an 
approximation  to  accordance  among  the  leading 
advocates  of  the  doctrine  of  a  plurality  of  spe- 
cies or  of  origin  among  the  various  races  of 


tional  series,  but  he  would  contend  that  this  fact  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  fixedness  of  each  element  of  the  series.  It  is  our  aim  to  vin- 
dicate the  recognized  principles  of  Natural  History,  by  showing  that 
this  recently  asserted  doctrine  leads  to  a  manifest  absurdity.  For,  as 
Prichard  well  says.  '"  all  the  diversities  which  exist  are  variable,  and 
pass  into  each  otlier  by  nv:endhle  gradations ;  and  there  is,  moreover, 
scarcely  any  instance  in  which  the  actual  traimtion  cannot  be  proved  to 
/ww  taA;en  pZoce. ^Natural  History  of  Man.     1813.     P.  473. 


128  THE    UNITY    OF 

men?  Agassiz  makes  eight  primeval  types,  and 
in  so  doing,  involves  himself,  as  we  shall  see  in 
the  sequel,  in  numerous  difficulties  and  some 
absurdities.  Dr.  Morton  made  five  groups,  each 
subdivided  into  numerous  families,  twenty-two 
in  all,  without  distinctly  affirming  which  were 
distinct  species.  Dr.  Nott,  alluding  to  this  clas- 
sification, says,  a^Dologetically  :  "  Some  classifi- 
cation of  races,  however  arbitrary,  seems  to  be 
almost  indispensable  for  the  purpose  of  convey- 
ing clear  ideas  to  the  general  reader,  yet  the 
one  here  adopted  by  Morton,  if  accepted  with- 
out proper  allowance,  is  calculated  to  lead  to 
grave  error.  He  has  grouped  together  races 
which  between  themselves  possess  no  affinity 
whatever,  that  present  the  most  opposite  cranial 
characters,  and  which  are,  doubtless,  specifically 
different." 

Jaquinot,  quoted  by  Dr.  Nott,  makes  three 
species  only,  of  the  genus  Homo,  the  Caucasian, 
Mongol,  and  Negro.  Dr.  Nott  is  disposed  to 
adopt  this  provisionally,  as  being  simple,  but 
adds  that  Jaquinot,  being  ignorant  of  the  monu- 
mental history  of  man,  classes  together  races 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  129 

which  (although  somewhat  similar  in  type, 
having  presented  distinct  physical  characteris- 
tics for  more  than  three  thousand  years,)  cannot 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  same  species,  any 
more  than  his  Caucasians  and  Negroes." 

But  besides  the  evidence  of  the  transitional 
nature  of  human  types  exhibited  in  the  grada- 
tional  series  of  such  types,  the  same  fact  is  in- 
dicated by  the  want  of  constancy  among  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  tribe,  in  the  characters 
alleged  to  be  typical.  While  we  admit,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  the  permanency  of  types,  so  that 
as  a  general  rule, — to  which,  however,  there  are, 
as  we  have  seen,  some  notable  exceptions, — the 
races  are  not  in  danger  of  losing  their  typical 
characters,  we  yet  contend  that  not  one  of  these 
characters  nor  any  particular  combination  of 
them,  has  that  degree  of  constancy  which  is  es- 
sential to  render  them  valid  as  tests  of  specific 
distinction.  Those  who  deny  the  specific  unity  of 
man,  sometimes  challenge  the  advocates  of  the 
doctrine  to  point  out  a  single  instance  in  which 
an  individual  belonging  by  birth  to  a  particular 
race,  has  manifested  the  aggregate  of  the  char- 
G* 


130  THEUNITYOF 

acters  held  to  be  typical  of  another  race.  It 
would,  indeed,  be  next  to  a  miracle  if  such  a 
phenomenon  were  to  occur.  On  the  mere  prin- 
ciple of  probabilities,  the  chances  of  the  spon- 
taneous recurrence  of  so  complex  a  combination 
of  characters,  ivhere  there  ivas  tio  hereditary 
tendetic//  to  their  production,  would  be  almost  in- 
finitely small.  It  suffices  to  show  that  in  the 
limits  of  one  and  the  same  race  there  are  oc- 
casional deviations  from  every  one  of  its  typical 
characters,  and  of  course  from  any  particular 
combination  of  them,  to  discredit  each  and  all 
as  grounds  of  specific  distinction.'"'*' 

Dr.  Carpenter,  in  his  able  article  on  the 
"  Varieties  of  Mankind","  in  the  English  "  Cy- 
clopaedia of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,"  gives 
figures  of  skulls  of  Englishmen,  preserved  in 
the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons, 


*  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  after  the  possible  variations  from 
a  given  primordial  organic  form  shall  have  been  realized,  and  shall 
have  given  rise  to  subordinate  groups  of  definite  characters,  the  latter 
are  not  necessarilj'  mutually  convertible,  though  originally  derived  from 
a  common  type.  The  very  fact  of  the  acquisition  of  a  certain  set  of 
characters  may,  and  doubtless  often  does,  operate  as  a  bar  to  any  other 
kind  of  variation,  and  consequently  to  the  mutual  conversion  of  many 
mere  varieties  of  the  same  species. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  131 

some  of  wliicli  present  the  characteristics  of  the 
pyramidal  or  Mongol  type,  and  others  those  of 
the  prognathons  or  Negro  type.  Any  man  may 
recognize  similar  deviations,  in  any  large  and 
mixed  crowd  of  persons,  all  of  whom  may  be 
of  pure  Caucasian  blood. 

Again,  Dr.  Morton  compared  the  capacity  of 
the  cranium  in  a  number  of  skulls  belonging  to 
different  races,  and  while  the  average  capacity 
of  the  elliptical  skull  of  the  white  races  was 
greatest,  and  that  of  the  Hottentot  and  Austra- 
lian the  smallest,  yet  the  largest  Negro  skull 
was  very  much  larger  than  the  smallest  Euro- 
pean, and  even  possessed  two  cubic  inches  more 
capacity  than  the  largest  Anglo-American.  It 
was  a  singular  result,  that  the  family  exhibiting 
the  largest  skull, — namely,  the  Germans, — also 
exhibited  one,  its  minimum,  which  approached 
very  nearly  to  being  the  smallest  of  all  that  were 
examined  in  any  of  the  families.  Conversely, 
the  Peruvians,  whose  minimum  and  average 
were  the  lowest,  also  rose  in  some  instances 
very  nearly  to  the  maximum.  It  is  quite  evi- 
dent, therefore,  that  there  is  no   approach  to 


132  THEUNITYOF 

that  constancy  in  the  dimensions  of  the  cranial 
cavity  which  is  requisite  to  constitute  this  a 
vaUd  test  of  sjoecific  distinction. 

We  shall  be  constrained  to  come  to  the  same 
conclusion  in  regard  to  every  other  structural 
character  which  has  yet  been  invoked,  such  as 
Dr.  Neill's  mark  of  a  division  of  the  articulating 
surface  of  each  occipital  condyle  into  two  facets, 
by  either  a  groove  or  a  ridge,  it  being  found  by 
him  in  thirty  only  out  of  eighty-one  African 
crania,  while  it  was  also  found  in  four  pure 
Egtjptimi,  and  in  three  aboriginal  American 
skulls.* 

The  hue  of  the  skin  has,  perhaps,  a  better 
apparent  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  fixed  and 
permanent  mark  than  any  which  has  been  yet 
referred  to,  but  even  this  character  has  not  that 
degree  of  constancy  which  is  requisite  for  a 
specific  distinction.  For,  as  we  have  already 
seen  in  another  connection,  American  Indians, 
admitted  by  all  to  have  sprung  from  the  same 
stock,  exhibit  every  shade  of  color  from  "  tlie 
almost  black  Charruas,  on  the  southern  shores 

*  American  Journnl  of  the  l^fedical  Sciences.     Jan  ,  1850. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  133 

of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  some  of  the  Cali- 
fornia tribes,'"'''  to  the  fair  Mandans  of  Upper 
Missouri,  represented  by  Catlin  as  being  almost 
white.  The  same  phenomenon  is  exhibited 
among  the  African  tribes,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  and  occasional  instances  occur  as  indi- 
vidual anomalies  in  which  Xegroes  become  white 
after  birth,  not  by  a  mere  loss  of  the  black  col- 
oring matter,  but  "  by  a  positive  development 
of  the  coloring  matter  that  characterizes  the 
Xanthous  variety,  in  which  the  complexion  is 
fair  and  ruddy."  The  fact  that  dark-skinned 
people  do  not  lose  their  characteristic  hue  by 
living  for  many  successive  generations  in  tem- 
perate climates,  is  not  at  all  inconsistent  with 
the  supposition  that  this  hue  might  have  been 
originally  acquired  as  the  effect  of  climatic  or 
other  external  conditions.  For  a  positive  mark 
once  acquired  is  apt  to  be  perpetuated  by  he- 
reditary transmission,  and  is,  therefore,  not  lost 
by  the  mere  withdrawal  of  the  influences  under 
which  it  v\^as  originally  formed. 

••'  Schoolcraft  Indian  Tribes,  part  ii.,  p.  320.  "On  the  Physical 
Type  of  the  American  Tndianf,"  an  article  written  by  Dr.  Morton  him- 
se'.f 


134  THE    UNITY    OF 

For  a  fuller  statement  of  the  argument  under 
this  head,  we  beg  our  readers  to  consult  the 
works  of  Dr.  Prichard,  and  Dr.  Carpenter's 
article  in  the  Cyclopa3dia  of  Anatomy  and 
Physiology  ;  since  the  force  of  the  argument 
depends  upon  the  number  of  well  authenticated 
observations  relating  to  the  inconstancy  of  this 
mark.  The  numerous  pertinent  facts  cited  by 
Dr.  Carpenter  suffice  to  demand  our  assent  to 
his  statement  that,  "on  the  whole,  then,  it 
must  be  concluded  that  the  color  of  the  skin  is 
a  character  of  such  variable  nature,  that  no 
positive  line  of  demarcation  can  be  drawn  by 
its  aid  between  the  different  races  of  mankind." 

There  is  still  less  constancy  in  the  differential 
characters  of  the  hair  in  the  different  races,  so 
vauntingly  paraded  a  few  years  ago  before 
almost  every  scientific  association  in  America, 
by  Mr.  P.  A.  Browne,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
asserted  that  the  form  of  the  surface  left  by  a 
transverse  section  of  the  hair  of  a  wliite  man  is 
oval,  that  of  the  Choctaw  and  some  other  Amer- 
ican Indians,  circular,  the  hair  being  cylindrical, 
and  that  of  the  Negro  eccentricallj^  elliptical,  his 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  135 

hair  being  quite  flat.  Again,  he  avers  that  the 
hair  of  the  Negro  is  not  true  hair,  but  wool. 
Now  Dr.  Carpenter,  who  stands  accredited  be- 
fore the  scientific  world  as  a  most  skillfid  and 
reliable  practical  microscopist,  having  employed 
a  large  portion  of  his  time  for  the  last  twelve 
or  fifteen  years  in  the  use  of  the  microscope, 
as  applied  to  the  study  of  human  and  compar- 
ative anatomy,  declares  with  emphasis  that  the 
form  of  the  shaft  of  the  hair  varies  not  only  in 
different  individuals  of  the  same  race,  but  also 
in  different  hairs  of  the  same  individuals,  be- 
ing sometimes  cylindrical,  sometimes  oval,  and 
sometimes  (though  more  rarely)  eccentrically 
elliptical  or  nearly  flat.*  And  so,  too,  for  the 
other  characters  referred  to  by  Mr.  Browne. 
We  have  thus  shown  that  none  of  the  alleged 

*  Similar  statements  to  those  of  Dr.  Carpenter  are  made  by  Dr.  Henry 
Goadtay,  formerly  Dissector  of  minute  Anatomy  to  the  Royal  College 
of  Surgeons,  of  England,  whose  skill  in  the  preparation  and  mounting 
of  objects  for  microscopic  examination  is  proverbial  both  in  England 
and  in  this  his  adopted  country.  (Text  book  of  Vegetable  and  Animal 
Physiology.  By  Henry  Goadby,  Professor  of  Vegetable  and  Animal 
Physiology,  &c.,  in  the  State  Agricultural  Society  of  Michigan,  &c.,  &,c. 
Xew  York,  1858.     P.  82.") 

The  observations  of  my  friend  Dr.  Julius  Porcher,  of  South  Carolina, 
made  in  1854,  and  recently  communicated  to  me  by  letter,  establish 
the  same  conclusions. 


136  THE    UNITY    OF 

differential  characters  exhibit  that  constancy 
which  is  requisite  to  their  vaHditj  as  tests  of 
specific  diversity,  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
their  habihty  to  occasional  modifications  within 
the  limits  of  one  and  the  same  race,  as  well  as 
their  gradational  changes  in  a  series  of  races, 
the  extremes  of  which  may  be  very  widely  sep- 
arated from  each  other,  go  far  to  demonstrate 
the  specific  unity  of  all. 

Especially  will  this  appear  if  we  contrast  this 
demonstrated  inconstancy  of  the  typical  charac- 
ters of  the  human  races  with  the  unvarying 
constancy  of  those  ti-aits  which  separate  all  the 
va.rieties  of  mankind,  on  the  one  hand,  from  the 
highest  anthropoid  brute  on  the  other.  This 
has  been  well  done  by  Professor  Richard  Owen, 
the  most  philosoi^hical  of  the  comparative  an- 
atomists of  the  age,  in  his  admirable  lecture 
on  the  Anthropoid  Apes,  delivered  before  the 
Ethnological  section  of  the  British  Scientific 
Association,  an  abstract  of  which  is  found  in  the 
luondon  Aihenceum  for  September,  1854.  "It 
is  not  without  interest,"  said  the  lecturer,  "to 
observe  that,  as  the  generic  forms  of  the  Quad- 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  137 

rumana  aj^proach  the  Bimanous  order,  they  are 
represented  by  fewer  species.  The  Gibbons 
(Hylobates)  scarcel}"  number  more  than  half  a 
dozen  species  ;  the  Orangs  (Pithecus)  have  but 
two  species,  or  at  most  three  ;  the  Chimpanzees 
(Troglodytes)  are  represented  by  two  species. 
The  unitij  of  the  human  species,  is  demonstrated  hij 
the  constancy  of  those  osteological  a7id  dental  char- 
acters to  which  the  attention  is  inore  particidarhj 
directed  in  the  investigation  of  the  corresponding 
characters  of  the  higher  quadrmnana.  Man  is 
the  sole  species  of  his  genus — the  sole  representa- 
tive of  his  order." 

Our  remarks  on  the  value  of  structural  pe- 
culiarities in  the  discrimination  of  species  have 
covered  so  much  space,  that  but  little  room  is 
left  for  a  notice  of  the  physiological  and  psycho- 
logical conformities  prevailing  among  the  races 
of  mankind.  This  part  of  the  inquiry  has  been 
pursued  with  great  diligence  and  success  by  Dr. 
Prichard  and  Dr.  Carpenter,  whose  conclusions 
onl}',  as  to  most  of  the  points  noticed,  we  can 
now  quote.  These  authors  have  collected  au- 
thentic   statistics,  which    serve   to    establish  a 


138  THE    UNITY    OF 

most  exact  correspondence  between  the  differ- 
ent races,  as  to  the  average  duration  of  Hfe  un- 
der the  same  conditions  of  cUmate,  mode  of 
life,  etc.;  as  to  the  maximum  longevity— the 
rate  of  mortality  —  the  age  at  which  the  bod}' 
attains  its  maximum  development — the  epoch 
of  the  first  menstruation  (with  a  partial  and 
easily  explained  exception  in  the  case  of  the 
Hindoo  females) — the  frequency  of  the  period- 
ical recurrence  of  that  function  —  the  epoch  of 
life  to  which  it  extends  ^the  duration  of  preg- 
nancy—  the  fertility  of  mixed  breeds  —  and 
finally,  their  liability  to  the  same  diseases.  So 
wonderful  a  correspondence  through  so  exten- 
sive a  range  of  physiological  susceptibilities 
and  powers,  covering,  as  it  does,  the  whole  phys- 
ical nature  of  man,  proves  conclusively  the 
specific  unity  of  his  varied  types,  while  a  simi- 
lar comparison  of  even  the  lowest  type  of  man 
with  the  highest  anthropoid  apes  establishes 
beyond  all  question  a  marked  difference  of 
specific  nature.  Prof  Mliller,  of  Berlin,  the  first, 
perhaps,  of  living  physiologists,  has  well  said  : 
"From  a  physiological  point  of  view,  we  may 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  139 

speak  of  varieties  of  men,  no  longer  of  races. 
Man  is  a  species,  created  once,  and  divided  into 
none  of  its  varieties  by  specific  distinctions.  In 
fact  the  common  origin  of  the  Negro  and  the 
Greek  admits  not  of  rational  doubt.''  * 

Professor  Draper,  of  the  University  of  New 
York,  the  author  of  a  most  original  and  valua- 
ble treatise  on  Human  Physiology,  comes  to  the 
same  conclusion,  which  he  announces  with  equal 
emphasis.  "I  do  not,  therefore,"  says  he,  "con- 
template the  human  race  as  consisting  of  varie- 
ties, much  less  of  distinct  species,  but  rather  as 
offering  numberless  representations  of  the  differ- 
ent forms  which  an  ideal  type  can  be  made  to 
assume  under  exposure  to  different  conditions." 
And  again  he  says  :  "  If  we  admit  that  the  same 
original  germ  may  develop  itself  into  countless 
forms,  according  as  it  has  been  exposed  to  dif- 
ferent physical  agents,  much  more  is  it  probable 
that  the  various  races  composing  the  human 
faiiiil}',  exposed  as  they  have  been  to  different 
physical  circumstances,  may  by  degrees  have 
assumed  the  discordant  features  they  present, 

*  See  appendix  C.  for  most  interesting  details. 


140  THE    UNITY    OF 

although  they  have  descended  from  one  original 
stock."  '^'  He  explains,  too,  in  an  exceedingly 
plausible  hypothesis,  the  origin  of  the  differ- 
ences in  the  color  of  the  skin  and  shape  of  the 
liead,  which  distinguish  many  of  the  hnman 
races. 

The  force  of  the  argument  based  on  physio- 
logical unity  is  felt  to  be  so  great,  that  an  attempt 
has  been  made  by  those  who  deny  the  unity  of 
the  races  to  discredit  some  of  the  facts  on  which 
it  rests.  Apparently  not  quite  satisfied  with  the 
results  of  their  efforts  to  invalidate  the  fertility 
of  mixed  breeds,  as  a  test  of  the  specific  unity 
of  the  parent  races,  they  now  shift  their  ground, 
and  deny  that  mixed  human  breeds  are  indefi- 
nitely prolific.  They  now  assert  that  the  mu- 
latto is  a  mule,  and  that  this  hybrid  breed  will 
soon  die  out,  unless  replenished  by  the  union  of 
whites  and  blacks.    Dr.  Nott  contends  that  when 


*  Human  Physiology,  Statical  and  Dynamical,  by  J.  W.  Draper.  New 
York.     1856. 

We  must,  however,  qualify  our  assent  to  this  writer's  doctrine  of  tlie 
capacity  of  "  the  same  original  germ  to  develop  itself  into  countless 
forms."  We  have  already  shown  that  there  are  limits  of  variation,  and 
ihat  with  this  apparent  exception  species  are  not  only  permanent  but 
immutable. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  141 

the  species  are  "proximate,"  that  is,  as  closely 
allied  as  is  possible,  consistently  with  the  diver- 
sit}"  of  origin,  "  prolificacy  is  unlimited,"  but  he 
denies  that  whites  and  blacks  are  "proximate" 
species,  and  holds  that  their  offspring  must  be- 
come extinct  in  a  few  generations,  by  breeding 
inter  se.  In  an  essay  on  Hybridity,  published 
in  1842,  he  maintained  the  following  proposi- 
tions : 

"1.  That  mulattoes  are  the  shortest-lived  of 
any  class  of  the  human  race. 

"2.  That  mulattoes  are  intermediate  in  intel- 
ligence between  the  blacks  and  whites. 

"  3.  That  they  are  less  capable  of  undergoing 
fatigue  and  hardships  than  blacks  and  whites. 

'*  4.  That  the  mulatto  women  are  particularly 
delicate,  and  subject  to  a  variety  of  chronic 
diseases.  That  they  are  bad  breeders,  bad 
nurses,  liable  to  abortions,  and  that  their  chil- 
dren generally  die  young. 

"5.  That  when  mulattoes  intermarry,  they 
are  less  prolific  than  when  crossed  on  the  parent 
stocks. 

"  6.  That  when  a  negro  man  married  a  white 


142  THE    UNITY    OF 

woman,  the  offspring  partook  more  largely  of  the 
negro  type,  than  when  the  reverse  connection 
had  effect. 

"7.  That  mulattoes,  like  negroes,  although 
imacclimated,  enjoy  extraordinary  exemption 
from  yellow  fever,  when  brought  to  Charleston^ 
Savannah,  Mobile,  or  New  Orleans." 

In  the  chapter  on  Hybridity,  in  the  "Types 
of  Mankind,"  published  twelve  years  later,  Dr. 
Nott  quotes  these  statements  of  his  earlier 
writings  on  the  subject,  and  adds  the  following 
commentary  :  "  Almost  fifty  years  of  residence 
among  the  white  and  black  races,  spread  in 
nearly  equal  pro2:)ortions  through  South  Caro- 
lina and  Alabama,  and  twenty-five  years'  inces- 
sant professional  intercourse  with  both,  have 
satisfied  me  of  the  absolute  truth  of  the  pre- 
ceding deductions.  My  observations,  however, 
during  the  last  few  years,  at  Mobile  and  New 
Orleans,  where  the  population  differs  essentially 
from  that  of  the  Northern  Atlantic  States,  have 
induced  some  modification  of  my  former  opin- 
ions, although  still  holding  to  their  accuracy  so 
far   as   they   apply  to    the  iniEermixture   of  the 


THE    HUMAN    S  P  i:  C  I  E  S  .  143 

strictly  white  race  (that  is,  the  Anglo-Saxon  or 
Teuton)  with  the  true  negro.  I  stated  in  an 
article  printed  in  '  Debow's  Commercial  Review,' 
that  I  had  latterly  seen  reason  to  credit  the 
existence  of  certain  affinities  and  repulsions'' 
among  various  races  of  men,  which  caused  their 
blood  to  mingle  more  or  less  perfectly  ;  and  that 
in  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  and  Pensacola,  I  had 
witnessed  rnanij  examples  of  great  longevity  among 
mulattoes  ;  and  sundry  instances  where  their  inter- 
marriages {contrary  to  my  antecedent  experiences 
in  South  Carolina)  were  attended  with  manifest 
prolificacy.  Seeking  for  the  reason  of  this  posi- 
tive, and,  at  first  thought,  unaccountable  differ- 
ence between  mulattoes  of  the  Atlantic  and 
those  of  the  Gulf  States,  observation  led  me  to 
a  rationale,  namely,  that  it  arose  from  the  diver- 
sity of  type  in  the  '  Caucasian'  races  of  the 
two  sections.  In  the  Atlantic  states,  the  popu- 
lation is  Teutonic  and  Celtic  ;  whereas,  in  our 
Grulf  cities,  there  exists  a  preponderance  of  the 
blood  of  the  French,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and 
other  c/a?-A'-skinned  races.  The  reason  is  simple 
to  the  historian.     Our  States  along  the  Gulf  of 


144  THE    UNITY    OF 

Mexico  were  chiefly  colonized  by  emigrants 
from  Southern  Europe.  Such  European  colo- 
nists belonged  to  types  genealogically  distinct 
from  those  white-skinned  'Pilgrim  Fathers,' 
who  landed  north  of  Florida.  Thus  Spain, 
when  her  traditions  begin,  was  populated  prin- 
cipally by  Iberians.  France  received  a  con- 
siderable infusion  of  the  same  blood,  now  al- 
most pure  in  her  Basque  provinces.  Italy's 
origins  are  questions  in  dispute  ;  but  the  Ital- 
ians are  a  dark-skinned  race.  Such  races,  blend- 
ed in  America  with  the  imported  negro,  gene- 
rally give  birth  to  a  hardier,  and,  therefore,  more 
prolific  stock  than  white  races,  such  as  the 
Anglo-Saxon  produce  by  intercourse  with  ne- 
gresses.  Bodichon,  in  his  curious  work  on 
Algeria,  maintains  that  this  Iberian,  or  Basque 
population,  although,  of  course,  not  negro,  is 
really  an  African,  and  probably  a  Berber  famil}', 
which  migrated  across  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar 
some  2,000  years  before  the  Christian  era  ;  and 
we  might,  therefore,  regard  them  as  what  Dr. 
Morton  calls  a  proximate  race.'"^ 

*  Types  of  Mankind,  p.  373. 


THE     HUMAN    SPECIES.  145 

Thus,  though  Dr.  Nott  candidly  admits  that 
he  has  of  late  witnessed  many  examples  of 
great  longevity  among  mulattoes,  and  sundry 
instances  where  their  marriages  were  attended 
with  manifest  fertility,  it  does  not  in  the  least 
shake  his  confidence  in  his  hastily  adopted 
opinions, — but  he  finds  a  triumphant  solution  of 
the  difficulty  in  his  doctrine  of  organic  repul- 
sions and  affinities.  If  it  were  necessary  to 
consider  such  a  theory  with  any  seriousness, 
we  should  object  to  the  manifold  assumptions 
and  to  the  obvious  contradictions  involved  in 
the  present  application  of  it.  We  need  scarcely 
say,  that  the  assumption  of  any  large  admix- 
ture of  Iberian  blood  among  the  present  popu- 
lation of  the  Gulf  cities  is  a  most  gratuitous 
hypothesis,  and  that  the  same  may  be  said  of 
the  allegation,  on  the  simple  authority  of  a 
surgeon  in  the  French  army,  that  the  Iberian 
population  is  "really  African,"  in  opposition  to 
the  opinions  of  Arndt  and  Rask,  distinguished 
Scandinavian  ethnologists,  that  the  Euskarians 
of  the  Biscayan  provinces,  with  the  Lapps  and 

Finns  of  Scandinavia,  are  i-emnants  of  an   abo- 
7 


146  T  H  E    U  N IT  Y    OF 

riginal  Turanian  population  once,  probably, 
occupying  all  Europe,  but  separated  into  two 
great  divisions  by  the  advance  of  the  Indo- 
European  tribes  from  the  south-east  corner  into 
Central  Europe.* 

But  let  us  hear  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Bach- 
man  respecting  the  facts  as  he  has  observed 
them  even  in  the  Atlantic  States.  "  Thus  far," 
says  he,  after  a  residence  of  fifty  3'ears  in 
Charleston,  "we  have  found  them  (mulattoes) 
equally,  if  not  more  prolific,  than  the  whites. 
"We  have,  according  to  the  last  census,  405,751 
mulattoes  in  the  United  States.  The  experi- 
ment, therefore,  for  good  or  for  evil,  has  been 
conducted  on  a  large  scale.  TVe  have  in 
Charleston  a  large  number  of  respectable  fami- 
lies of  free  mulattoes.  They  have  received  good 
English  educations,  and  some  of  their  daughters 
have  even  been  taught  drawing  and  music. 
Their  sons  are  mechanics.  Many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  community  of  mulattoes  are  upright 

»  W.  B.  Carpenter.     Op.  cit.  p.  1849. 
A  principal  contributor  to  Nott  &  Gliddon's  "  Indigenous  Races  of 
the  Earth,"  M.  Alfred  Maury,  comes  to  the  same  conclusion  respecting 
the  Tartar  affinities  of  the  Iberian  people.     See  Appendix  G,  p. 


THE    il  U  M  A  N    S  1'  E  C  1 

and  virtuous,  and  are  professors  of^eligion. 
They  have  intermarried  for  several  generations. 
We  have  ascertained  that  they  continue  to  he, 
through  every  generation,  on  an  average,  fully  as 
prolific  as  either  the  whites  or  blacks."* 

Let   us  now  consider  the  argument   founded 

*  Charleston  Medical  Journal,  July,  1855,  p.  524.  Prof.  Dana,  in 
his  ''Thoughts  on  Species,'' from  which  we  have  already  cited  ex- 
tracts, makes  some  very  striking  remarks  on  the  subject  of  hybiidity. 
Adverting  to  the  great  precision  with  which  the  purity  of  species  has 
been  guarded,  he  pertinently  remarks :  "It  strikes  us  naturally  with 
wonder,  that  even  in  senseless  plants,  witliout  the  emotional  repug- 
nance of  instinct,  and  with  reproductive  organs  that  are  all  out- 
side, the  free  winds  being  often  the  means  of  transmission,  there 
should  be  a  rigid  law  sustained  against  intermixture.  The  supposed 
cases  of  perpetuated  fertile  hybridity  are  so  exceedingly  few  as  almost 
to  condemn  themselves,  as  no  true  examples  of  an  abnormity  so  abhor- 
rent to  the  system.  They  violate  a  principle  so  essential  to  the  integ- 
rity of  the  plant-kingdom,  and  so  opposed  to  Nature's  whole  plan,  that 
we  rightly  demand  long  and  careful  study  before  admitting  the  excep- 
tions." .     . 

"  Again,  in  the  animal  kingdom,  there  is  the  same  aversion  in  na- 
ture to  intermixture,  and  it  is  emotional  as  well  as  physical.  The  sup- 
posed cases  of  fertile  hybridity  are  fewer  than  among  plants."  .  .  . 
"It  is  fair  to  make  the  supposition  that,  in  case  of  a  very  close  proxim- 
ity of  species,  there  might  be  a  degree  of  fertile  hybridity  allowed : 
and  that  a  closer  and  closer  affinity  might  give  a  longer  and  longer  range 
of  fertility."  But  ^'this  hypothesis  seenw  to  be  cu!  short"  by  siich  cases  as 
that  of  the  horse  and  the  ass.  "  The  short  run  of  hybridity  between  these 
very  closely  related  species,  reaching  its  end  in  one  single  generation,  instead 
of  favoring  the  idea  that  perpetuated  fortile  hybridity  is  possible,  is  a  speak- 
ing protect  again. "it  a  principle  tlutt  iroidd  ruin  (he  system  if  allowed  free  scope. 
Moreover,  it  is  not  reasonable  to  attribute  such  indefiniteness  to  nature's 
outlines ;  for  it  is  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  her  system. 

"  Were  such  a  case  demonstrated  by  well-established  facts,  it  would 


148  THEUNITYOF 

on  a  comparison  of  the  clifFerent  races  of  men 
with  respect  to  mental  endowments.  It  has 
akeady  been  briefly  stated,  that  among  the  lower 
animals  every  species  is  characterized  by  the 
possession  of  instincts  and  propensities  peculiar 
to  itself.  So  that  in  the  several  vai'ieties  of  one 
and  the  same   species,  notwithstanding  strongly 


necessarily  be  admitted;  and  we  would  add,  tliat  investigations  di- 
rected to  this  point  are  the  most  important  that  modern  science  can 
undertake.  But  until  proved  by  arguments  better  than  those  drawn 
from  domesticated  animals,  we  may  plead  the  general  principle  against 
the  possibilities  on  the  other  side.  If  there  is  a  law  to  be  discovered,  it 
is  a  wide  and  comprehensive  law,  for  such  are  all  nature's  principles. 
Nature  will  teach  it,  not  in  one  corner  of  her  system  only,  but  more  or 
less  in  every  part.  We  have  therefore  a  right  to  ask  for  well-defined 
facts,  taken  from  the  study  of  successive  generations  of  the  interbreed- 
ing of  species  known  to  be  distinct.  Least  of  all  should  we  expect  that 
a  law,  which  is  so  rigid  among  plants  and  the  lower  animals,  should 
have  its  main  exceptions  in  the  highest  class  of  the  animal  kingdom, 
and  its  most  extravagant  violations  in  the  genus  Homo;  for  if  there  are 
more  than  one  species  of  man,  they  have  become  in  the  main  indefinite 
by  intermixture Man,  by  receiving  a  plastic  body,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  law  that  species  most  capable  of  domestication  should 
necessarily  be  most  pliant,  was  fitted  to  take  the  whole  earth  as  his  do 
minion,  and  to  live  under  every  zone.  And  surel}^  it  would  have  been 
a  very  clumsy  method  of  accomplishing  the  same  result,  to  have  made 
him  of  many  species,  all  admitting  of  indefinite,  or  nearly  indefinite  hy- 
bridization in  direct  opposition  to  a  grand  principle  elsewhere  recog- 
nized in  the  organic  kingdoms.  It  would  have  been  using  a  process 
that  produces  impotence  or  nothing  among  animals  for  the  perpetua- 
tion and  progress  of  the  human  race. 

"  There  are  other  ways  of  accountiag  for  the  limited  productiveness 
of  the  mulatto,  without  appealing  to  a  distinction  of  species.     There  are 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  149 

marked  diversities  of  physical  structure,  we 
may  recognize  instincts  which  2^x0,  fundamentally 
the  same,  although  they  may  have  been  modified 
in  their  manifestations  by  the  new  circumstances 
in  which  the  animals  are  placed.  Take  for  ex- 
ample the  case  of  the  dog,  every  known  variety 
of  which  species  is  remarkable  for  susceptibility 
of  attachment  to  man,  contrasting  in  this  re- 
spect with  the  most  nearly  allied  species  of  the 
same  genus, — the  wolf,  the  fox  and  the  jackal. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  refer  to  the  kinds  and  ex- 
tent of  modification  which  may  be  manifested 
by  the  different  breeds  of  dogs  in  respect  to 
this  fundamental  instinct  of  the  entire  species, 

causes,  independent  of  mixture,  which  are  making  the  Indian  to  melt 
away  before  the  white  man,  the  Sandwicli  Islander  and  all  savage  peo- 
ple to  sink  into  the  ground  before  the  power  and  energy  of  higher  in- 
telligence. They  disappear  like  plants  beneath  those  of  stronger  root 
and  growth,  being  depressed  morally,  intellectually,  and  physically, 
contaminated  by  new  vices,  tainted  variously  by  foreign  disease,  and 
dwindled  in  all  their  hopes  and  aims  and  means  of  progress,  through  an 
overshadowing  race.  H'«  ham  therefore  rcuson  to  believe,  from  man^s  fer- 
tile intenniitiire,  that  he  is  one  in  impedes  ;  and  that  all  organic  species  are 
divine  appointments  which  cannot  be  obliterated,  unless  by  annihilating 
the  individuals  representing  the  species."  (Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Oct., 
1857.) 

We  hail  with  lively  satisfaction  this  emphatic  expression  of  the  ma- 
tured opinions  of  one  whose  authority  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  phi- 
losophy of  natural  history  is  second  to  that  of  no  living  votary  of  science. 


150  THE    UNITY    OF 

since  they  are  familiar  to  the  most  superficial  ob- 
server. Here,  then,  is  an  instance  of  identity 
of  psj^chical  traits,  proving  a  specific  identity, 
among  varieties  so  diversified  in  physical  struc- 
ture as  to  suggest  the  idea  of  many  different 
species.  In  like  manner,  the  most  proximate 
species  are  often  recognized  as  distinct  by  the 
diversity  of  their  psychical  constitution.  "  It 
would  not  be  easy  to  point  out  two  species  of 
animals  confessedly  distinct,  which  are  more 
similar  in  their  form  and  structure  than  the 
African  and  Asiatic  elephants.  Now  the  psy- 
chical qualities  of  these  tribes  differ.  The  Afri- 
can elephant,  though  partially  tamed  in  ancient 
times  for  the  purposes  of  warfare,  has  never 
been  known  to  display  that  docile  understand- 
ing and  gentle  temper  which  are  so  remarkable 
in  the  elephants  of  India,  and  particularly  in 
those  of  Ce34on.  The  ox  kind,  and  the  bison 
and  buffalo,  are  species  nearly  allied,  though 
perhaps  not  so  closely  related  as  the  different 
tribes  of  elephants.  Similar  differences  in  re- 
gard to  psychical  endowments  exist  between 
thes^  animals.     One  of  the  species  above  men- 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  151 

tioned  is  among  the  most  subdued  slaves  and 
immemorial  comj)anions  of  mankind  ;  the  others 
are  but  imperfectly  tamable  by  any  means  that 
have  been  devised."* 

In  applying  this  test  to  the  question  of  the  re- 
lationship among  the  various  tribes  of  mankind, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  first  impressions  are 
adverse  to  the  doctrine  of  specific  identity,  if 
this  require  a  sameness  of  mental  endowments. 
Thus  the  careful  and  candid  writer,  whom  we 
have  just  quoted,  draws  the  following  contrast : 
"  Let  us  imagine,  for  a  moment,  a  stranger  from 
another  planet  to  visit  our  globe,  and  to  con- 
template and  compare  the  manners  of  its  in- 
habitants, and  let  him  first  witness  some  bril- 
liant spectacle  in  one  of  the  highly  civilized 
countries  of  Europe, — the  coronation  of  a 
monarch,  the  installation  of  St.  Louis  on  the 
throne  of  his  ancestors,  surrounded  by  an 
august  assembly  of  peers  and  barons,  and 
mitred  abbots,  anointed  by  the  cruse  of  sacred 
oil,  brought  by  an  angel  to  ratify  the  divine 
privilege   of  kings  ;    let  the    same    person  be 

•  Prichard.     Pliysical  Historj^  of  Mankind.     Vol.  I. 


152  THE    UNITY    OF 

carried  into  a  hamlet  of  Negro  land,  in  the  hour 
when  the  sable  race  recreate  themselves  with 
dancing  and  barbarous  music  ;  let  him  then  be 
transported  to  the  saline  plains,  over  which 
bold  and  tawny  Mongols  roam,  differing  but 
little  in  hue  from  the  yellow  soil  of  their 
steppes,  brightened  by  the  saffron  flowers  of  the 
tulip  and  the  iris  ;  let  him  be  placed  near  the 
solitary  den  6f  the  Bushman,  where  the  lean 
and  hungry  savage  crouches  in  silence  like  the 
beast  of  prey,  watching  with  fixed  eyes  the 
creatures  which  enter  his  pit-fall,  or  the  insects 
and  reptiles  which  chance  brings  within  his 
grasp  ;  let  the  traveller  be  carried  into  the  midst 
of  an  Australian  forest,  where  the  squalid  com- 
panions of  kangaroos  may  be  seen  crawling  in 
procession,  in  imitation  of  quadrupeds  :  can  it 
be  supposed  that  such  a  person  would  conclude 
the  various  groups  of  beings  whom  he  had  sur- 
veyed to  be  of  one  nature,  one  tribe,  or  the 
offspring  of  the  same  original  stock  ?  It  is 
much  more  probable  that  he  would  arrive  at 
an  opposite  conclusion."* 

*  Prichard.     Natural  History  of  Man. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  153 

Prof.  Draper,  quoting  the  above  lines,  per- 
tinently remarks  that  "much  would  depend  on 
the  previous  training  of  the  illustrious  stran- 
ger. If  his  mind  had  been  imbued  with  a  bet- 
ter philosophy  than  that  which  prevails  in  this, 
our  lower  world,  he  might  look  with  an  equal  eye 
on  the  transitory  fashions  before  him,  and  pen- 
etrate to  the  first  principles  of  things  through 
the  false  glare  of  pomp,  or  througli  debasement 
and  degradation,  and  so  arrive  at  a  conclusion 
precisely  the  opposite  of  the  foregoing,  in  the 
same  manner  as  Dr.  Prichard  himself. 
Beneath  the  feathers  in  the  one  case  and  the 
leaves  in  the  other,  he  might  discern  the  same 
ruling  idea  and  detect  the  same  human  nature  ; 
or  if  his  vision  could  reach  into  the  past,  and 
recall  the  credulous  Greek  worshipping  before 
the  exquisitely  perfect  statues  of  the  deities  of 
his  country,  beseeching  them  for  sunshine  or 
for  rain,  and  then  turn  to  the  savage  Amaiman, 
who  commences  his  fast  by  taking  a  vomit,  and 
for  want  of  a  better  goddess,  adores  a  dried 
cow's  tail,  imploring  it  for  all  earthly  goods — 
again  the   same  principle  would   emerge,  only 


154  THE    UNITY    OF 

illustrated  by  the  circumstance  that  the  savage 
is  more  thorough,  more  earnest  in  his  work. 
In  fact,  wherever  we  look  man  is  the  same."* 

Dr.  Prichard  illustrates  the  same  general 
proposition  by  numerous  examples,  of  which 
we  can  cite  but  a  single  one.  He  is  describing 
the  religious  system  of  the  Esquimaux:  "It 
seems,  on  the  whole,  that  the  future  state  of  the 
old  pagan  Esquimaux  or  Greenlanders  was  in  a 
great  measure  a  state  of  retribution,  of  rewards 
and  punishments.  Happiness  and  misery  were 
at  least  not  dispensed  with  indifterence  to  merit 
and  demerit.  Torngarsuk  is  the  chief  of  spir- 
its, dwelling  in  his  happy  subterranean  man- 
sion. His  mother  or  wife  is  a  mischievous 
being.  This  Proserpine  of  the  north  lives  in  a 
great  house  under  the  ocean,  where  by  magic 
spells  she  can  detain  all  the  animals  of  the  sea. 
In  the  oil-jar  under  her  lamps,  sea-birds  swim 
about.  Her  throne  is  guarded  by  rampant 
seals,  or  defended  by  a  great  dog,  who  never 
sleeps  but  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  So  many 
curious   traits   occur  in   the  description  of  this 

*  J.  W.  Draper.     Op.  cit.     P.  570. 


T  H  E    H  U  M  A  H    S  P  E  C  I  E  S  .  155 

infernal  goddess  and  her  abode,  which  recall 
the  Proserpine  of  classical  mythology,  and  the 
Pattala  of  the  Hindoos,  and  the  subterranean 
scenes  of  enchantment  among  the  Arabs,  that 
we  might  well  be  inclined  to  derive  these  fables 
from  a  common  source,  if  the  resemblance  be- 
tween them  was  not  better  accounted  for  by 
referring  it  to  the  common  laws  of  the  human 
mind,  and  to  the  tendency  of  the  imagination 
to  create  similar  fictions  with  reference  to  par- 
ticular subjects,  and  under  the  influence  of  cor- 
responding feelings  and  impressions.  But  this 
brings  out  so  much  the  stronger  a  proof,  that 
the  mind  is  the  same  in  different  countries  and 
in  different  races  of  men."* 

Our  limits  forbid  us  to  follow  this  learned 
and  reliable  authority  any  further  in  his  detailed 
analysis  of  the  mental  characters  of  the  lower 
races. f  We  can  only  now  add  his  summary 
conclusions.  "We  contemplate,"  says  he, 
"  among  all  the  div^ersified  tribes,  who  are  en- 
dowed with  reason  and  speech,  the  same  inter- 

*  Prichard.     Physical  History  of  Mankind.     Vol.  L,  p.  190. 
f  See  Appendix  D. 


156  THE    UNITY    OF 

nal  feelings,  appetencies,  aversions  ;  the  same 
inward  convictions,  the  same  sentiments  of 
subjection  to  invisible  powers,  and,  more  or  less 
fully  developed,  of  accountableness  or  respon- 
sibility to  unseen  avengers  of  wrong  and  agents 
of  retributive  justice,  from  whose  tribunal  men 
cannot  even  by  death  escape.  We  find  every- 
where the  same  susceptibihty,  though  not  always 
in  the  same  degree  of  forwardness  or  ripeness 
of  improvement,  of  admitting  the  cultivation  of 
these  universal  endowments,  of  opening  the 
eyes  of  the  mind  to  the  more  clear  and  luminous 
views  which  Christianity  unfolds,  of  becoming 
moulded  to  the  institutions  of  religion,  and  of 
civilized  life  :  in  a  word,  the  same  inward  and 
mental  nature  is  to  be  recognized  in  all  the 
races  of  men.  When  we  compare  this  fact 
with  the  observations  which  have  been  hereto- 
fore fully  established  as  to  the  specific  instincts 
and  separate  psychical  endowments  of  all  the 
distinct  tribes  of  sentient  beings  in  the  universe, 
we  are  entitled  to  draw  confidently  the  conclu- 
sion, that  all  human  races  are  of  one  species 
and  one  family."'* 

*  J.  G.  Prichard.     Natural  Historvof  Man.     Loudon.  1843.    P.  545. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  157 

If  this  conclusion  appears  startling,  in  view 
of  the  reports  given  by  travellers  of  those 
degraded  forms  of  humanity  to  be  found  in 
Southern  Africa  and  in  Australia,  it  may,  per- 
haps, lessen  the  force  of  the  objection,  to  point 
to  parallel  cases  existing  in  nearly  all  the  great 
cities  in  the  heart  of  civilized  Christendom. 
This  parallel  between  the  most  brutalized  sav- 
ages and  the  "dangerous  classes"  of  our  large 
cities,  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  the 
Edinburgh,  Revieiu  for  October,  1848,  and  has 
since  been  extended  in  his  notice  of  the  "  Vari- 
eties of  Mankind,"  to  which  reference  has  been 
already  several  times  made. 

This  conformity  as  to  the  fundamental  ele- 
ments of  moral  nature  between  the  different 
races  of  mankind,  is  entirely  consistent  with  a 
very  large  degree  of  diversity  in  moral  and  in- 
tellectual manifestations  ;  and  the  extent  to 
which  such  a  moral  and  intellectual  diversity 
may,  under  the  influence  of  causes  common  to 
a  whole  people,  become  the  common  heritage 
of  a  tribe,  and  thus  ultimately  characterize  the 


158  THE    UNITY    OF 

race,  is  a  legitimate  subject  of  curious,  and  it 
may  be,  very  profitable  study.* 

The  evidence  of  this  close  conformity  in  the 
elements  of  psychical  nature  among  all  the 
races  of  men  is  regarded  as  so  significant  of 
their  "moral  brotherhood,"  as  to  have  com- 
manded the  assent  of  a  large  majorit}-  of  even 
that  class  of  naturalists  who,  like  Agassiz,  con- 
sider these  races  as  distinct  in  their  origin,  and 
as  having  been  originally  marked  with  the  sajne 
physical  peculiarities  which  now  characterize 
them  respectively.  "We  recognize,"  says  this 
eminent  zoologist,  "  the  fact  of  the  unity  of 
mankind.  It  excites  a  feeling  that  raises  men 
to  a  most  elevated  sense  of  their  connection 
with  each  other.  It  is  but  the  reflection  of 
that  divine  nature  which  pervades  the  whole 
being.  It  is  because  men  feel  thus  related  to 
each  other,  that  they  acknowledge  those  obliga- 
tions of  kindness  and  moral  responsibility  which 
rest    upon    them   in    their   mutual     relations. 

■*  See  "  Moral  and  Intellectual  Diversity  of  the  Races,"  by  Count 
GoBixEAU.  A  further  notice  of  this  subject  will  be  given  in  the  second 
division  of  this  essay. 


THE    HUMAN    SPECIES.  159 

Where  the  relationship  of  blood  has  ceased,  do 
we  cease  to  acknowledge  that  general  bond 
which  unites  all  men  of  every  nation  ?  By  no 
means.  This  is  the  bond  which  every  man  feels 
more  and  more  the  farther  he  advances  in  his 
intellectual  and  moral  culture,  and  which  in 
this  development  is  continually  placed  upon 
higher  and  higher  ground,  so  much  so,  that  the 
physical  relation  arising  from  a  common  descent 
is  Anally  lost  sight  of  in  the  consciousness  of 
higher  moral  obligations.  It  is  this  conscious- 
ness which  constitutes  the  true  unity  of  man- 
kind."* 

These  are  noble  thoughts,  expressed  in  elo- 
quent words.  We  cannot,  then,  but  own  our 
surprise  that  the  distinguished  writer  has  per- 
mitted his  honored  name  to  appear  on  the  title- 
page  of  a  work,  the  tendency,  and  we  might, 
perhaps,  without  injustice,  add,  the  undisguised 
object  of  which  is,  to  revolutionize  the  practical 
moral  convictions  of  mankind  which  he  has 
thus  so  eloquently  vindicated. 

So,  too,  the  Westminster  Review  (April,  1856), 

*  Christian  Examiner.     Boston.     January,  1850. 


160  THEUNITYOF 

while  advocating  the  plurahty  of  origin,  and 
the  primeval  diversities  of  the  principal  types 
of  men,  yet  asserts  their  "  strict  unity,  a  unity 
manifested  physically,  intellectually  and  morally, 
a  sameness  from  the  beginning  in  instincts,  pro- 
pensities, feelings,  and  faculties,  hopes  and  fears, 
and  everywhere  the  like  reverent  looking  up- 
wards to  a  great  unseen  Cause,  and  constant 
adumbration  of  a  future  heritage." 

We  might  now,  we  think,  reasonably  chal- 
lenge the  assent  of  our  readers  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  unity  of  the  human  species  ;  but  inasmuch 
as  that  doctrine  has  been  assailed  of  late  from 
quarters  of  attack  not  yet  noticed,  we  propose, 
in  the  second  division  of  our  subject,  to  ex- 
amine the  grounds  on  which  Prof.  Agassiz,  while 
recognizing  the  "unity  of  mankind,"  yet  con- 
tends for  primordial  diversities  of  type.  We 
hope  to  show  that  the  very  grounds  on  which 
natural  zoological  provinces  are  established, 
suffice  to  refute  the  idea  of  a  multiple  origin  for 
identical  species,  and  that  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  accounting  for  the  actual  distribution  of  man 
over  the  face  of  the  earth  by  natiu'al  agencies, 


THE    HUMAN     SPECIES.  161 

while  the  theory  of  Agassiz  involves  the  idea  of 
a  needless  repetition  of  the  miracle  of  creation. 
Inasmuch,  too,  as  he  is  the  most  conspicuous 
assailant  of  the  argument  in  favor  of  the  com- 
mon origin  of  mankind,  derived  from  a  con- 
sideration of  linguistic  affinities,  we  shall  attempt 
to  vindicate  the  validity  of  the  philological  proofs 
of  such  origin,  and  after  again  adverting  to  the 
actual  moral  and  intellectual  diversities  of  the 
races,  shall  aim  to  show  that  while  the  too  ex- 
clusive contemplation  of  these  admitted  diversi- 
ties is  apt  to  give  the  mind  a  bias  in  favor  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  primeval  distinctions  of 
races,  and  while  on  a  few  points  the  only  avail- 
able evidence  in  refutation  of  such  an  assump- 
tion may  appear  indirect  or  incomplete,  yet 
when  the  entire  argument  is  viewed  with  refer- 
ence to  the  mutual  dependence  of  its  several 
branches,  and  the  obvious  convergence  of  its 
separate  lines,  it  will  be  found  to  lead  to  the 
necessary  conclusion  that  all  the  varieties  of 
man  must  have  sprung  from  a  common  parent- 
age as  well  as  own  a  common  nature. 


Part  II 


COMMON  PARENTAGE 


OF  THE 


HUMAN  RACES. 


[163] 


COMMON  PARENTAGE 


OF    THE 


HUMAN    EACES. 


CHAPTER  I. 


PLUKAL    OK    SIKGLE    ORIGIN^   OF   IDENTICAL   SPECIES   AMONG 
PLANTS   AND    ANIMALS. 

In  the  former  part  of  our  argument  we  stated 
at  some  length  the  evidence  in  favor  of  the 
specific  unity  of  the  various  races  of  mankind, 
and  showed,  as  we  cannot  but  think,  that  this 
doctrine,  supported  as  it  is  by  many  indepen- 
dent hnes  of  argument  all  converging  to  this 
necessary  conclusion,  could  no  longer  be  consid- 
ered doubtful.  Now  in  accordance  with  the 
idea  involved  in  the  definition  of  species  as  laid 
down  by  most  philosophical  and  trustworthy  nat- 
uralists, it  has  commonly  been  held  that  all  the 

[1C5] 


166  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

varieties  of  identical  species  must  have  sprung 
from  a  common  ancestry.  Thus  Dr.  Prichaed, 
throughout  his  admirable  writings,  treats  of  spe- 
cific unity  as  tantamount  to  that  of  community 
of  descent,  and  uses  the  terms  interchangeably. 
But  we  are  free  to  admit  that  the  proof  of  orig- 
inal descent  is  an  inference  from  observed  facts 
rather  than  a  necessar}^  deduction  from  the  doc- 
trine of  unity  of  species.  If  mankind  belong 
to  several  species,  the  question  is,  of  course,  set- 
tled in  favor  of  plurality  of  origin  ;  but  the 
converse  of  the  proposition  does  not  follow  of 
necessity.  It  is  at  least  conceivable  that  in- 
stead of  a  single  pair  God  may  have  formed  any 
number  of  first  men  and  women  who  were  yet 
as  specifically  identical  as  if  they  had  been  born 
of  the  same  parents.  This  question  has  been 
discussed  with  much  earnestness  by  Prof.  Agas- 
siz,  who  has  repeatedly  given  expression,  in  lan- 
guage as  decided  as  it  is  eloquent,  to  his  con- 
firmed belief  in  the  "  Unity  of  Mankind."' 
Thus,  in  1845,  he  declared:  "There  exists,  then, 
a  real  difference  between  the  inhabitants  of  the 
different  continents,  and  the  remarkable  coinci- 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  167 

deuce  which  we  have  pointed  out  between  their 
primitive  distribution  and  the  circumscription 
of- the  faunas  in  the  same  continents,  is  a  suffi- 
cient indication  that  their  diversity  may  be 
traced  upwards  to  the  same  primordial  cause. 
But  while  this  diversity  has  the  same  origin,  has 
it  also  the  same  significance  in  man  as  among 
animals  ?  Evidently  not.  And  here  again  the 
superiority  of  the  human  race  and  its  greater 
independence  in  nature  are  revealed.  Whilst 
animals  are  of  distinct  species  in  the  diff'erent 
zoological  provinces  to  which  they  belong,  man, 
notwithstanding  the  diversity  of  his  races,  con- 
stitutes a  single,  identical  species  (une  seule  et 
meme  espece)  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe. 
In  this  respect,  as  in  so  many  others,  man  ap- 
pears to  us  an  exceptional  being  in  this  crea- 
tion, of  which  he  is  at  once  the  object  and  the 
end."  * 

But  while  thus  distinctly  insisting  upon  the 
specific  unity  of  the   races,   he   yet  contend^ 

*  Notice  sur  la  Geographie  des  Animaux.  L.  Agassiz.  Revue 
Suisse.  1845.  Quoted  by  Dr.  Bachman  in  the  Charleston  Medical 
Journal  Review,  for  July,  1855. 


168  COMMON     PARENTAGE    OF 

that  the  pecuharities  of  physical  conformation 
observed  among  them,  and  certain  facts  con- 
nected with  their  geographical  distribution, 
were  not  explicable  on  the  hypothesis  of  a 
conniion  origin,  and  that  they  required  us  to 
suppose  that  "  men  were  created  in  nations," 
distributed  over  the  face  of  the  earth  as  we 
now  find  them  distributed,  after  setting  aside 
the  known  migrations  of  a  few  races.  These 
several  nations,  however,  were  composed  of  in- 
dividuals possessing  the  same  essential  nature 
wherever  they  were  created,  but  had  that  na- 
ture modified  to  some  extent  in  accordance  w^ith 
the  special  conditions  in  which  each  nation  was 
destined  to  exist.  Of  late,  Prof.  Agassiz,  in 
his  "  Sketch  of  the  Natural  Provinces  of  the 
Animal  World,  and  their  relation  to  the  differ- 
ent Types  of  Man,"  has  altered  the  phraseolo- 
gy in  which  he  enunciates  his  propositTons.  He 
now  adopts  Dr.  Morton's  definition  of  species 
as  "  a  primordial  organic  form,"  and  according- 
ly, he  must  recognize  his  primeval  types  of 
mankind  as  so  many  distinct  species  ;  but  the 
difference  respects  rather  the  use  of  terms  tlian 


THE     HUMAN    RACES.  169 

any  change  of  opinion  as  to  facts.  He  still 
contends  for  the  "  Unity  of  Mankind,"  main- 
taining that  a  strict  unity  as  to  moral  nature, 
involving,  therefore,  the  idea  of  a  moral  broth- 
erhood of  all  the  races,  is  yet  consistent  with 
the  idea  of  specific  div^ersity  according  to  the 
sense  in  which  he  now  uses  the  word  species, 
as  applicable  to  all  primordial  types. 

We  notice  this  apparent  discrepancy  between 
the  early  and  later  utterances  of  Prof.  Agas- 
siz  on  this  question,  with  no  desire  to  convict 
him  of  a  want  of  consistency  with  himself.  We 
abhor  that  species  of  argumentum  ad  hominem 
which  aims  to  discredit  the  actual  opinions  of 
an  opponent  by  raking  up  his  earlier,  and  it 
might  be,  his  less  matured  views  on  the  same 
subject.  But  in  point  of  fact,  we  do  not  con- 
sider that  in  the  present  case  there  is  any  sub- 
stantial difference  between  the  opinions  an- 
nounced in  1845,  and  those  promulgated  in  1853. 
We  have  thought  proper  to  quote  the  former, 
because  we  consider  that  they  are  expressed  in 
language  which  conforms  to  common  usage, 
while  the  latter  are  involved  in  some  confusion, 

8 


170  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

owing  to  the  ambiguity  of  the  terms  in  which 
they  are  couched.  For  while  his  recent  state- 
ment asserts  in  terms  the  doctrine  of  muhiple 
species,  it  admits  the  unity  of  essential  nature 
for  all  the  so-called  human  species,  which  is 
tantamount  to  specific  unity  in  the  sense  in 
which  the  term  is  commonly  used.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  in  this  connection,  that  since  the 
earlier  enunciation  of  Prof.  Agassiz'  peculiar 
opinions,  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  and  that  eminent 
zoologist,  the  late  Prof.  Edward  Forbes,  had 
presented  cognat  considerations  in  opposition 
to  the  theory  of  multiple  origins  for  the  differ- 
ent varieties  of  an  identical  species.  We 
cannot  help  suspecting  that  this  fact  had  some 
weight  with  Prof.  Agassiz,  however  uncon- 
sciously on  his  part,  in  inducing  him  to  make 
the  modification  referred  to,  whereby,  under 
cover  of  an  ambiguity  in  the  terms,  he  seem- 
ingly avoids  the  force  of  their  convincing  ar- 
guments. That  he  has  not  completely  shifted 
his  ground,  appears  from  a  remark  let  fall  by 
him  at  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Boston 
Society  of  Natural  History,  held  July  2,  1856, 


T  II  E    H  U  M  A  N    R  A  C  E  S .  171 

as  reported  in  the  "  Proceedings,"  Yolume  YI.,' 
page  8. 

"  Dr.  Storer  asked  what  was  the  northern 
geographical  limit  of  Cistudo  blandmgii.  In 
1842  he  presented  to  the  Society  a  specimen 
from  Bradford,  Massachusetts,  until  which  time 
it  had  not  been  observed  by  naturalists  north 
of  South  Carolina. 

"Prof.  Agassiz  replied  that  he  had  found 
the  eggs  in  Massachusetts,  and  raised  the  ani- 
mal from  them.  There  is  no  evidence  of  its 
existence  between  Massachusetts  and  Illinois, 
where  it  is  again  found.  It  has  a  circle  of  dis- 
tribution in  the  north-western  States,  and 
another  disconnected  range  in  Massachusetts. 
He  thinks  the  animal  maij  have  originated  in  the 
two  different  localities^  Here  the  Professor 
recognizes  identity  of  species  in  individuals 
of  different  origin,  because,  we  presume,  of 
an  identity  in  type.  So,  too,  he  asserts  a  di- 
versity of  origin  for  different  nations  of  man- 
kind, even  where  they  exhibit  the  same  physi- 
cal type.  For  while  he  attempts  to  demon- 
strate the  existence  of  eight  distinct  types  of 


172  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

man,  which,  notwithstanding  their  admitted 
"  close  unity''  and  "  moral  brotherhood,"  he 
now  designates  as  so  many  separate  species,  he 
further  contends  for  an  indefinite  number  of 
distinct  creations  of  men  and  women  within  the 
limits  of  one  and  the  same  type.  It  is  this  last 
proposition  which  we  shall  now  discuss.  So  far 
as  specific  diversity  is  ascribed  to  the  human 
races  in  any  other  sense  than  that  which  by  a  con- 
ventional use  attaches  to  the  assumption  of  sepa- 
rate origins,  we  consider  that  we  have  sufficiently 
refuted  the  doctrine  in  our  former  article. 

In  considering  the  positive  grounds  on  which 
Prof.  Agassiz  relies  to  support  the  doctrine  of 
a  plural  origin  of  mankind,  we  notice,  in  the 
first  place,  that  which  seems  to  have  most  in- 
fluence in  giving  a  bias  to  his  mind  in  relation 
to  this  subject, — namely,  the  alleged  analogy 
of  the  inferior  animals.  He  maintains  that 
there  is  an  otherwise  inexplicable  "coincidence 
between  the  circumscription  of  the  races  of 
man  and  the  natural  limits  of  different  zoologi- 
cal provinces  characterized  by  peculiar  distinct 
species    of   animals."     The    existence   of   such 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  173 

natural  limits  for  many  species  is,  indeed,  un- 
deniable, and  the  fact  had  not  escaped  the 
attention  of  philosophical  naturalists  of  the  last 
century.  "It  is  an  undoubted  fact,"  says  Buf- 
fon,  "that  when  America  was  first  discovered, 
its  indigenous  quadrupeds  were  all  dissimilar 
to  those  previously  known  in  the  old  world. 
The  elephant,  the  rhinoceros,  the  hippopotamus, 
the  camelopard,  the  camel,  the  dromedary,  the 
buffalo,  the  horse,  the  ass,  the  lion,  the  tiger, 
the  apes,  the  baboon,  and  a  number  of  other 
mammalia,  were  nowhere  to  be  met  with  on 
the  new  continent  ;  while  in  the  old,  the  Amer- 
ican species,  of  the  same  great  class,  were  no- 
where to  be  seen — the  tapir,  the  lama,  the 
pecari,  the  jaguar,  the  cougar,  the  agouti,  the 
paca,  the  coati,  and  the  sloth."  The  contem- 
plation of  such  facts  soon  led  to  the  induction 
of  a  general  law  respecting  the  geographical 
distribution  of  animals  and  plants, — namely, 
"the  limitation  of  groups  of  distinct  beings  to 
regions  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  globe  by 
certain  natural  barriers."  "  It  will  be  observed," 
says  Lyell,  in  quoting  these  statements  of  Buf- 


174  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

fon,  "that    this   language  respecting   'natural 
barriers,'   which    has    since    been    so   popular, 
would  be  wholly  without  meaning,  if  the   geo- 
graphical distribution  of  organic  beings  had  not 
led    naturalists    to    adopt    very    generally    the 
doctrine  of  specific  centres,  or  in  other  words,  to 
believe  that  each  species,  whether  of  plant  or 
animal,  originated  in  a  single  birth-place.     Re- 
ject this  view,  and  the  fact  that  not  a  single 
native  quadruped  is  common  to  Australia,  the 
Cape  of  Grood   Hope,  and  South  America,  can 
in  noways  be  explained  by   adverting   to   the 
wide  extent  of   intervening  ocean,   or   to  the 
sterile  deserts,  or  the  great  heat  or  cold  of  the 
climates,  through  which  such  species  must  have 
passed,  before   it  could   migrate  from   one  of 
those    distant    regions    to    another.      It    might 
fairly  be  asked  of  one  who  talked  of  impassable 
barriers,  why  the  same  kangaroos,  rhinoceroses, 
or  lamas,  should  not  have  been  created  simul- 
taneously in  Australia,  Africa,  and  South  Amer- 
ica ?     The  horse,  the  ox,  and  the  dog,  although 
foreign  to  these  countries  until  introduced  by 
men,  are  now  able  to  support  themselves  there 


T  H  E    H  U  M  A  N    R  A  C  E  S  .  175 

in  a  wild  state  ;  and  we  can  scarcely  doubt  that 
many  of  the  quadrupeds  at  present  peculiar  to 
Australia,  Africa,  and  South  America,  might 
have  been  continued  in  like  manner  to  inhabit 
each  of  the  three  continents,  had  they  been 
indigenous,  or  could  they  once  have  got  a  foot- 
ing there  as  new  colonists."* 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  Prof. 
Agassiz,  in  his  earlier  writings  on  this  subject, 
while  he  admitted  the  fact  of  the  circumscription 
of  most  species  within  certain  natural  barriers, 
and  thereby  identified  the  different  zoological 
provinces,  yet  contended  that  there  were  also 
numerous  instances  of  identical  species  being 
found  in  more  than  one  province  and  thus  sep- 
arated by  a  wide  extent  of  intervening  water, 
or  else  of  land  impassable  for  such  species  by 
reason  of  its  climate  or  sterility.  Upon  such 
facts  he  mainly  relied  as  an  analogical  argument 
in  favor  of  his  doctrine  of  the  multiple  origin 
of  a  single  human  species.  About  the  same 
time  Prof.  Edward  Forbes  was  zealously  en- 
gaged in  investigating  the  laws  of  the  geograph- 

*  Lyell.     Op   cit.,  p.  608. 


176  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

ical  distribution  of  organic  beings,  and  contrib- 
uted to  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  Geological  Survey 
of  Great  Britain"  an  elaborate  and  well-consid- 
ered paper  "  On  the  connection  between  the 
Distribution  of  the  Existing  Fauna  and  Flora 
of  the  British  Isles,  and  the  Geological  Changes 
which  have  effected  their  Area,  especially  during 
the  epoch  of  the  Northern  Drift."  In  this 
paper  it  is  clearly  shown  : 

"  1st.  That  species  of  opposite  hemispheres, 
placed  under  similar  conditions,  are  representa- 
tive and  not  identical. 

"  2d.  Species  occupying  similar  conditions  in 
geological  formations  far  apart,  and  which  con- 
ditions are  not  met  with  in  the  intermediate 
formations,  are  representative  and  not  identical. 

"  3d.  Wherever  a  given  assemblage  of  condi- 
tions, to  which,  and  to  which  only,  certain  spe- 
cies are  adapted,  are  continuous,  whether  geo- 
graphically or  geologically,  identical  species 
range  throughout." 

He  then  argues  that  these  facts  "go  far  to 
prove  "  the  doctrine  of  the  relationship  of  all 
the  individuals  composing  a  species,  and  their 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  177 . 

consequent  descent  from  a  single  progenitor, 
or  from  two,  according  as  the  sexes  miglit  be 
united  or  distinct.  Adverting  to  the  notorious 
fact  that  the  doctrine  of  the  plural  origin  of 
identical  species  sprang  out  of  apparent  anom- 
alies and  difficulties  m  distribution,  he  proceeds 
to  show  how  these  may  be  reasonably  accounted 
for,  without  having  recourse  to  such  a  supposi- 
tion. "There  are  three  modes  by  which  an 
isolated  area  may  become  peopled  by  animals 
and  plants  :  1st.  By  special  creation  within  that 
area.  2d.  By  transport  to  it.  3d.  By  migra- 
tion before  isolation."  He  clearly  proves  that 
where  identical  species  are  found  in  different 
localities  under  such  circumstances  as  to  pre- 
clude the  idea  of  transport  from  one  to  the 
others,  such  outlying  spots  were  once  parts  of 
a  continuous  area,  the  whole  of  which  exhibited 
the  conditions  required  for  the  support  of  the 
species  in  question,  and  that  owing  to  subse- 
quent geological  changes,  such  as  the  substitu- 
tion of  land  for  water  or  water  for  land,  or 
simply  climatal  changes,  detached  spots  became 

isolated  from  the   rest.     This  will  be  rendered 
8* 


178  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

more  intelligible  by  an  example.  "  We  have 
in  the  mountain  districts  of  Scotland,  England 
and  Wales,  a  considerable  flora  and  a  portion 
of  our  fauna,  which  cannot  be  traced  to  the 
migration  of  animals  and  plants  over  the  great 
Germanic  plain,  which  accounts  for  the  major 
part  of  our  British  species,  seeing  that  they 
are  not  inhabitants  of  the  ancient  west  of 
Europe,  but  of  Scandinavia.  How  did  they 
come  ?  The  Alpine  character  of  most  of  them 
forbids  us  by  any  stretch  of  probability  to  con- 
duct them  across  the  Germanic  plain   from  its 

most  northern  bound We  have 

seen  that  the  great  Germanic  and  central  British 
plains  themselves  were  portions  of  the  elevated 
bed  of  a  preexistin'g  sea,  which  sea,  when  we 
trace  its  relics,  is  found  to  have  covered  a  great 
poTt  of  the  British  Isles  as  now  exposed,  so  that 
during  its  existence  our  mountains  must  have 
been  comparatively  low  islands.  This  was  the 
sea  of  the  Glacial  period,  properly  so  called, 
when  the  climate  of  the  whole  Northern  and 
part  of  Central  Europe  was  very  different  from 
what  it  is  now,  and  far  colder.     The  remains 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  179 

of  the  marine  animals  found  in  the  strata  de- 
posited in  that  sea  indubitably  prove  this  fact, 
and,  as  will  l>o  seen  presently,  the  flora  of  its 
islands  as  fully  bears  out  such  climatal  evidence. 
This  was  the  epoch  of  glaciers  and  icebergs,  of 
boulders  and  groovings  and  scratches.  It  ex- 
hibited conditions,  physical  and  zoological,  sim- 
ilar, indeed  nearly  identical,  to  those  now  to  be 
met  with  on  the  north-eastern  coast  of  America, 
within  the  line  of  the  summer  floating  ice.  .  .  , 
Now  it  wa5  during  this  epoch  that  Scotland 
and  Wales,  and  part  of  Ireland,  then  groups 
of  lands  in  this  ice-bound  sea,  received  their 
Alpine  Flora  and  a  small  portion  of  their  fauna. 
Plants  of  sub-arctic  character  would  then  flour- 
ish to  the  water's  edge,  but  when  a  new  state 
of  things  commenced,  when  the  bed  of  the 
glacial  sea  was  upheaved,  its  islands  converted 
into  mountains,  its  climate  changed,  and  a  suit- 
able population  of  animals  and  vegetables  dif- 
fused over  its  area,  the  plants  of  the  colder 
epoch  survived  only  on  the  mountainous  regions 
which  had  been  so  elevated  as  therefore  to  re- 
tain climatal  conditions  similar  to  those  which 


180  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

had  existed  when  those  regions  were  low  ridges 
or  islands  in  a  glacial  sea." 

Having  stated  with  great  clearness  and  pre- 
cision many  other  similar  cases,  Prof.  Forbes 
sums  up  the  whole  in  this  abstract  proposition  : 
"7%e  specific  identity,  to  any  extent,  of  the  flora 
and  fauna  of  one  area  with  those  of  another, 
depends  on  both  areas  forming  or  having  formed 
part  of  the  same  specific  centre,  or  on  their  hav- 
ing derived  their  animal  and  vegetable  population 
by  transmission,  through  migration  dver  coyitinu- 
ous  or  closely  contiguous  land,  aided,  in  the  case 
of  Alpine  Floras,  by  transportation  on  floating 
masses  of  zee."*    . 

*  The  interesting  iact,  tlius  brouglit  to  liglit,  of  a  iveaticard proyress  of 
the  great  mass  of  British  animals  and  plants,  over  a  then  unbroken  land 
(the  upheaved  bed  of  the  glacial  sea),  from  the  central  Germanic  plains, 
furnishes  a  satisfactorj'  explanation  of  the  jaeculiar  poverty  of  the  fauna 
of  Ireland.  For  '•  the  accurate  calculations  of  the  late  Mr.  Thompson,  of 
Belfast,  concerumg  the  reptile  .statistics  of  Ireland,  England  and  Belgium, 
respectively,  have  succeeded  in  showing,  with  much  presumptive  reason, 
how  the  formation  of  St.  George's  Channel,  heforc  that  of  the  German 
Ocean,  interrupted  the  march  of  these  wanderers  to  the  far  West,  and 
debarred  an  immense  proportion  of  them  from  an  entry  into  Ireland, — 
which  would  otherwise  have  colonized  that  country  equally  with  Eng- 
land."    (WoLL.iSTOX.      Variaiion  of  Sprcie-i.  j>.  136.) 

This  last  named  writer,  while  endorsing  the  general  statement  of 
Prof  Forbes  with  respect  to  the  existence  of  repreienLdioe  species,  ex- 
presses the  conviction  that  the  doctrine  of  representation  has  been  too 
much  relied   upon ;  and  that  whore  beings  of  a  nearly  identical  aspect 


THE    U  U  M  A  N    RAGES.  181 

About  the  (late  of  the  publication  of  this 
paper  by  Forbes,  Prof.  Agassiz  was  maiutain- 
ins:  the  doctrine  of  the  radiation  of  identical 
species  from  several  distinct  centres.  Thus  in 
the  Principles  of  Zoology  by  Agassiz  and  Gould, 
pubhshed  a  little  later,  we  find  the  following 
statement :  "  There  is  only  one  way  to  account 
for  the  distribution  of  animals  as  we  find  them  ; 
namely,  to  suppose  that  they  are  autochtlionoi ; 
that  is  to  say,  that  they  originated  like  plants 
on  the  soil  where  they  are  found.  In  order  to 
explain  the  particular  distribution  of  many  ani- 
mals, we  are  even  led  to  admit  that  they  must 
have  been  created  at  several  points  of  the  same 
zone,  as  we  must  infer  from  the  distribution  of 
aquatic  animals,  especially  that  of  fishes.  If 
we  examine  the  fishes  of  the  different  rivers  of 
the  United  States,  peculiar  species  will  be  found 
in  each  basin,  associated  with  others  which  are 
common   to    several  basins.      Thus,  the  Dela- 

are  detected  in  opposite  divisions  of  tlie  eartli,  it  is  more  often  tlie  case 
that  members  of  them  have  been  transported  at  a  remote  period  (just 
as  Forbes  explains  tlie  case  of  identical  species  being  found  in  detached 
spots),  and  liave  l.)ecomo  g-radaally  altered  by  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  have  been  placed,  than  that  the  respective  phases  wero 
produced  in  situ  on  patterns  almost  conicident       (lb.  p    183.) 


182  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

ware  river  contains  species  not  found  in  the 
Hudson.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pickerel 
is  found  in  both.  Now,  if  all  animals  originated 
at  one  point,  and  from  a  single  stock,  the  pick- 
erel must  have  passed  from  the  Delaware  to  the 
Hudson,  or  vice  versa,  which  it  could  only  have 
done  by  passing  along  the  sea-shore,  or  by 
leaping  over  large  spaces  of  terra  firma  ;  that 
is  to  say,  in  both  cases  it  would  be  necessary  to 
do  violence  to  its  organization.  Now  such  a 
supposition  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  immu- 
tabilit}^  of  the  laws  of  nature.  .  .  .  Even  man, 
although  a  cosmopolite,  is  subject,  in  a  certain 
sense,  to  this  law  of  limitation.  While  lie  is 
everywhere  the  one  identical  species,  yet  several 
races,  marked  by  certain  peculiarities  of  fea- 
tures, are  recognized."  *  Now,  however,  hav- 
ing become  satisfied,  in  view  perhaps  of  the 
facts  cited  by  Prof  Forbes,  that  the  species  in 
the  different  provinces  are  not  identical,  he 
shifts  his  position  a  little,  and  no  longer  holds 
that  the  human  races  are  "everywhere  of  one 

*  Principles  of  Zoology.    By  L.  Agassiz  and  A.  A.  Gould.     Boston, 
1848.     P.  180. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  183 

identical  species,"  but  doubtless  regards  them 
as  '  representative,^ — and  j^et,  as  we  have  already 
said,  the  difference  is  more  in  the  use  of  terms 
than  a  substantial  one  ;  for  he  still  avers  that 
his  actual  opinions  "do  not  conflict  with  the 
idea  of  the  unity  of  mankind,"  and  "that  the 
moral  question  of  brothe.rhood  is  not  affected 
by  these  views."  Again,  in  1850,  he  main- 
tained the  unity  of  mankind  w^ith  great  earnest- 
ness, and  held  "that  the  phijsical  relation  aris- 
ing from  a  common  descent  is  finally  lost  sight 
of  in  the  consciousness  of  higher  moral  obliga- 
tions, which  consciousness  constitutes  the  true 
unity  of  mankind.  .  .  .  We  can  therefore  take 
it  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that,  as  we  find  men  ac- 
tually living  together  in  the  world,  it  is  not  the 
physical  relation  which  establishes  the  closest 
connection  between  them,  but  that  higher  rela- 
tion arising  from  the  intellectual  constitution  of 
man."*  Unless,  therefore,  he  now  attaches  more 
weight  to  slight  physical  differences  in  the  dis- 
crimination of  species  than  to  intellectual  and 
moral  characteristics,  in  direct  contravention  of 

*  Christian  Examiner,  Boston,  1850. 


184  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

the  principles  so  eloquently  expounded  in  the 
passages  just  cited,  and  equally  in  conflict,  as 
it  appears  to  us,  with  the  spirit  and  true  mean- 
ing of  the  maxim  announced  in  the  chapter  of 
his  "Principles  of  Zoology,"  headed  "Intelli- 
gence and  Instinct,"  where  it  is  said  that  "  the 
constancy  of  species  is  n.  phenomenon  depending 
on  the  immaterial  nature,"  *  we  must  hold  that 
his  present  opinions,  though  announced  in  a 
somewhat  modified  phraseology,  are  substan- 
tially the  same  as  when,  in  1848,  he  asserted  that 
"man  is  everywhere  the  one  identical  species ;" 
and  so  holding,  we  consider  that  his  doctrine  of 
more  than  one  birthplace  for  this  one  identical 
species  is  discredited  by  the  striking  facts  and 
cogent  reasoning  of  Prof.  Forbes,  whose  admira- 

*  111  another  passage  of  the  same  work  this  idea  is  brought  out  more 
distinctly.  On  page  9  of  the  first  edition,  or  page  —  of  the  edition 
1858,  we  find  the  following  words:  '"Besides  the  distinction  to  be  de- 
rived from  tlie  varied  structures  of  organs  there  are  others  less  subject 
to  rigid  analysis,  but  no  less  decisive,  to  be  drawn  from  the  immaterial 
principle  with  which  every  animal  is  endowed.  It  is  this  which  determines 
the  constanqi  of  species  from  generation  to  generation,  and  which  is  the  source 
of  all  the  varied  exhibitions  of  instinct  and  intelligence  which  we  see 
displaj'ed,  from  the  simple  impulse  to  receive  the  food  which  is  brought 
within  their  reach,  as  observed  in  tlie  polyps,  through  the  liigher  mani- 
festations, in  the  cunning  fox,  the  sagacious  elephant,  the  faitliful  dog, 
and  the  exalted  intellect  of  man,  which  is  capable  of  indefinite  expan- 
sion."    For  continuation  of  this  note,  see  Appendix  E. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  185 

ble  paper  in  the  work  already  cited/-'  we  would 
earnestly  commend  to  tl>e  attention  of  those 
who  feel  an  interest  in  this  question.  Certain 
it  is  that  this  learned  and  talented  naturalist 
has  conclusively  shown  that  the  analogy  of  infe- 
rior animals  and  plants  is  altogether  adverse  to 
the  hypothesis  of  a  plural  origin  of  identical 
species.  We  consider,  therefore,  that  we  might 
fairly  rest  our  case  on  this  incontrovertible  ar- 
gument of  Prof.  Forbes  ;  but,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  Agassiz  has  attempted  to  evade  its  force 
by  substituting  "representative"  for  "identi- 
cal" species,  we  propose  to  notice  some  of  the 
special  statements  in  his  "Sketch  of  the  Natural 
Provinces  of  tlie  Animal  World." 

His  first  statement  is,  "that  the  boundaries 
within  which  the  different  natural  combinations 
of  animals  are  known  to  be  circumscribed  upon 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  coincide  with  the 
natural  range  of  distinct  types  of  man."  We 
might  well  take  exception  to  this  statement,  as 
taking  for  granted  a  material  point  which  has 
not  been  fully  demonstrated.     It  has  not  been 

■'-  Memoirs  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Great  Britain.    Loudon,  1846. 


186  COMMON     PARENTAGE    OF 

proved,  nor,  in  our  opinion,  can  it  be  proved, 
that  there  is  any  fixed  relation  between  distinct 
types  of  men  and  definitely  circumscribed  re- 
gions. 

But  not  to  insist  upon  this  obvious  ftillacy,  let 
us  inquire  a  little  more  closely  into  the  facts 
which  are  relied  upon  to  make  out  the  alleged 
analogy.  In  the  first  place,  we  contend  that 
the  division  of  the  earth's  surface  into  eight 
"  o;reat  zooloo'ical  realms,"  each  subdivided  into 

(DO  ' 

a  number  of  subordinate  faunge,  as  set  forth  in 
the  "Sketch,"  is  purely  arbitrary,  so  far,  at 
least,  as  the  precise  limits  of  most  of  the  realms 
are  concerned.  And  this,  it  should  be  observed, 
is  a  point  of  great  significance,  since  the  argu- 
ment which  we  criticise  consists  in  an  alleged 
coincidence  between  these  limits  and  the  natural 
range  of  distinct  types  of  man.  Now  if  these 
limits  be  indeterminable,  the  asserted  coinci- 
dence cannot  be  established,  and  the  argument  * 
falls  to  the  ground.  Accordingly  it  will  be  found, 
that  in  several  instances  the  limits  of  the  zoolo- 
gical provinces  have  evidently  been  assigned  in 
view  of  the  range  of  certain  types  of  mankind 


T  II  E    11  U  M  A  N    R  A  C  E  S  .  187 

supposed  to  be  definitely  ascertained,  and  assumed 
to  be  coincident  with  the  boundaries  of  the  prov- 
inces.    Thus  a  part  of  the  doctrine  which  re- 
quired independent  proof  is  quietly  assumed, 
and  then  made  use  of  to  prove  the  rest.     On 
what  other  ground  than  the  recognition  of  the 
unity  of  type  among  all  the  American  Indian 
tribes,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  admitting 
for  them  a  very  extensive  "  natural  range,"  can 
there  be  a  plausible  pretext  for  assigning  to  one 
zoological  province  the  whole  of  the  American 
Co*ntinent,  save  only  the  Arctic  realm,  which  lies 
north  of  the  isothermal  line  of  32"  F.?    N"o  other 
reason  can  be  given  that  will  not  invalidate  the 
limits  of  most  of  his  great  realms,  that  will  not, 
for  example,  require  us  to  include   the  Arctic 
region  in  the  same  category  with  the  whole  of 
North  America.       For  while  we  grant  that  a 
large  majorit}^  of  the  species  found  in  his  Arctic 
'realm  are  peculiar  to  it,  it  is  undeniable  that  a 
very  considerable   number   range   through   the 
Northern  States  of  our  Union,  and  not  a  few 
extend  even  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     We  shall 
cite  a  number  of  examples,  for  which  we  are 


188  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

indebted  to  Dr.  Bachman,  the  leading  authority 
in  all  matters  respecting  the  mammalian  depart- 
ment   of   American  zoology.      "  The    common 
wolf  {Canis  lupus)  exists   in   this   same  Ar-ctic 
realm,  and  has  been  found  as  far  north  as  the 
foot  of  man  has  trodden.     It  crosses  Behring 
Straits  on  the  ice,  while  the  natives  have  been 
but  recently  seen  crossing  it  in  canoes.     It  is 
found    in    Kamtschatka,    the     Kurille    Islands, 
Japan  and  China.     It  inhabits  the  whole  of  the 
Russian     Empire,     Tartary,    Austria,     France, 
Germany,  Italy,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  of  Eu- 
rope down  to  the  tropics.    It  exists  in  America, 
from  the  furthest  north,  through  Labrador  and 
Canada — in  the  whole  United  States — in  Ore- 
gon  and  California.     It  is  common  in  Texas  ; 
is  noticed  in  Captain  Sitgreaves'  expedition,  as 
existing  in  New  Mexico  ;  it  ranges  down  to  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  how  much  further  to 
the  south  we  are  not  informed.     The  ermine  is- 
another  species,  existing  in   the  Arctic  realm, 
which  Prof.  Agassiz  has  omitted  to  notice.     It 
exists  in  every  part  of  Europe  where  the  wolf 
is  found,  and  also  throughout  the  whole  of  Asia 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  189 

north  of  the  tropics."  "In  America  it  ranges 
from  the  most  northern  Umit  attained  by  Frank- 
hn,  Lyon,  and  Parry,  to  Mexico  and  Cahfornia." 
"  This  extensive  range  of  two  of  the  most 
common  species  found  in  his  Arctic  realm,  will 
cover  all  the  ground  assigned  by  Prof.  Agassiz 
to  every  tribe,  form  of  skull,  and  shade  of 
color,  in  his  Arctic,  Mongol,  European,  and 
American  realms.  Thus,  if  his  doctrine  of  the 
diversity  of  human  species  could  be  found  true, 
it  would  appear  that  man,  endued  with  intelli- 
gence, possessing  powers  of  invention,  fond  of 
navigation,  omnivorous  in  his  appetites,  rest- 
less and  migratory  in  his  habits  of  locomotion, 
and  subjecting  the  lower  animals  to  his  will,  is 
restricted  to  a  narrower  range  than  the  wolf, 
the  ermine,  aud  many  others  that  might  be 
named."* 

But  our  main  object  in  citing  these  examples 

'of  a  wide  range  of  certain  species,  forming  a 

part  of  the  Arctic  fauna,  was  to  demonstrate 

the  purely  arbitrary  principles  on  which  definite 

"  J.  Bachman,  D.  D.,   in  Charleston  Medical  Journal  and  Review. 
July,  1855.  p.  494. 


190  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

limits  have  been  assigned  to  the  so-called  Arctic 
realm.  Prof.  Agassiz  determines  those  limits 
by  observing  the  natural  range  of  a  few  species 
of  animals  and  plants  arbitrarily  selected  out  of 
the  entire  fauna  and  flora,  when  a  different 
selection  would  have  totally  changed  the  whole 
aspect  of  the  case.  We  have  just  seen  how  it 
is  with  the  wolf  and  the  ermine,  both  belonging 
to  his  Arctic  realm,  and  both  passing  widely 
beyond  the  arbitrary  southern  boundary,  the 
isotherme  of  32°  F.  But  numerous  other 
species  may  bo  named,  whose  ranges  utterly 
invalidate  the  boundaries  of  this  so-called 
natural  zoological  province.  The  beaver,  for- 
merly existing  all  over  the  United  States,  and 
still  found  over  Oregon  and  California,  in  New 
Mexico,  in  Canada,  and  Labrador,  is  an  exam- 
ple. It  is  also  preserved  in  Russia,  Norway, 
and  Sweden,  though  nearly  extinct  in  other 
parts  of  Europe,  where  it  formerly  abounded 
until  destroyed  by  hunters.  Another  instance 
is  that  of  the  otter,  which  ranges  over  the 
whole  of  North  and  South  America,  "  from 
pole  to  pole."     Other  species,  existing  in  the 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  191 

Arctic  regions^,  and  yet  ranging  far  beyond  the 
limits  assigned  to  the  Arctic  realm  of  Prof. 
Agassiz,  are  the  wolverine,  the  musk-rat,  and 
the  mink,  among  the  mammalia ;  the  snow- 
goose,  the  Canada  crane,  the  golden  plover,  the 
red  phalarope,  the  raven,  the  great  horned  owl, 
and  many  other  birds,  and  a  large  number  of 
plants.  The  very  plant  selected  by  Prof.  Agas- 
siz as  characterizing  his  Arctic  realm,  the  rein- 
deer moss,  has  a  very  extensive  range  in  Asia, 
Europe,  and  America,  having  been  found  as  far 
south  as  Virginia,  and  even  in  South  Carolina.* 
Now  the  learned  Professor  himself  admits  as 
many  as  thirteen  distinct  faunoB  in  his  great 
American  realm.  We  are  at  a  loss  to  conceive 
why  these  faunae  should  be  associated  into  one 
great  zoological  province,  from  which  the  Arctic 
fauna  is  excluded,  seeing  that  so  man}^  of  the 
species  found  in  the  latter  range  so  extensively 
through  the  regions  assigned  to  the  former.  Is 
it  not  apparent  that  the  arrangement  was  forced 
upon  him  by  the  necessities  of  his  system  ?  He 
considered  the  Esquimaux  as  representing  one 

*  Ibid. 


192  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

primordial  type  of  man,  and  the  various  tribes 
of  American  Indians  as  another ;  he  had,  there- 
fore, to  make  two  zoological  realms  in  correspon- 
dence with  the  range  of  these  two  types  of  man. 
Now  we  must  insist  that  it  is  a  glaring  perversion 
of  the  simplest  rules  of  logic  to  think  of  establish- 
ing, by  such  a  procedure  as  this,  the  proposition 
that  "the  boundaries  within  which  the  different 
natural  combinations  of  animals  are  known  to 
he  circumscribed  upon  the  surface  of  our  earth, 
coincide  with  the  natural  range  of  distinct  types 
of  man."  After  all,  it  turns  out  that  the 
boundaries  are  wholly  arbitrary,  and  the  prov- 
inces are  constructed  with  the  express  view  of 
being  made  to  "  coincide  "  with  the  range,  real 
or  assumed,  of  the  distinct  types  of  man. 

But  again,  when  Prof.  Agassiz  avers  '•  that 
the  laws  whicli  regulate  the  diversity  of  animals 
and  their  distribution  upon  the  earth  apply 
equally  to  man,  within  the  same  limits  and  in 
the  same  degree,''  he  surely  overlooked  numerous 
facts  which  can  by  no  means  be  made  to  har- 
monize with  this  theory.  Some  of  these  are 
stated  with  so   much  pertinency  and  force  by 


THE    HUMAN    Ft  A  C  E  S  .  193 

Dr.  Bachraan,  that  we    shall   borrow   his  lan- 
guage :   "  Prof.  Agassiz  has  rather  too  positive- 
ly conjectured  that   his  Arctic  man  had  been 
created  in  the  snow-clad,  cold,  and   dreary  cli- 
mate in  which  he  now  resides — that  he  was  an 
autochthon    there,    and    that    his    progenitors 
never  possessed  a  southern  home.     We  contend 
this    to    be    an    utter    impossibility,    from    the 
organization   of   the   Esquimaux   or   any   other 
variety  of  man  ;  the  artificial  means  by  which 
he  must  supply  himself  with  food,  clothing,  and 
a    shelter,   and    the    intensit}^    of   cold    against 
which  he  must  necessarily  be  protected."     He 
then,  in  illustration  of  this  point,  makes  copious 
extracts,  of  which   we   give   a  few   specimens, 
from  Richardson's  "  Arctic  Expedition  in  search 
of    Sir    John    Frankhn."      "  The    Esquimaux 
wintering  on  the  coast  are  in  darkness  at  mid- 
winter ;  the  reindeer  and  musk-oxen  have  then 
retreated,   and  fish  cannot,  at  that   season,  be 
[)rocured   in   their   waters  ;   life,   therefore,   can 
only  be  maintained  ifi  an  Esquimaux  ivinter  by 
stores   iJTOvided   in   summer T*      Dr.    Bachman 

*  J.  Bnchinan.  D.  D.    Op  ,  cit.  p.  502. 
9 


194  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

justly  contends  that  it  is  not  in  the  range  of 
probabiUty  or  even  of  possibility,  without  a 
succession  of  miracles,  such  as  we  have  no  riglit 
to  look  for, — save  the  miracle  of  man's  first 
creation, — for  the  Arctic  man,  had  he  been 
created  there,  to  have  survived  a  single  winter 
or  even  a  single  month.  Even  at  the  present 
day,  with  all  the  advantages  which  have  been 
derived  from  ages  of  experience,  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation  ;  with  bows  and 
arrows  to  slay  the  musk-ox  and  reindeer  ;  with 
harpoons  for  the  whale,  and  spears  for  the 
seal  ;  with  houses  already  erected,  and  clothing 
manufactured,  we  are  told  if  the  tribe  has 
been  improvident,  or  the  seal  fails  to  make  his 
appearance  at  the  mouth  of  his  hole  in  the  ice, 
or  no  whale  is  captured  or  driven  ashore  to 
supply  his  lanip,  so  essential  to  afford  him 
warmth  and  light,  the  inhabitants  of  whole 
villages  perish  from  cold  and  famine."* 

In  like  manner  Dr.  Pickering  argues,  that 
"  the  species  of  organic  beings  allotted  to  the 
various   regions    of  the    globe    have   in   no  in- 

*  lb.,  p.  506.     See,  also,  Dr.  Kaue's  Arctic  Explorations:  passim. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  195 

stance  been  modified  by  climate  or  by  other 
external  circumstances  ;  but  each  has  been  orig- 
inally fitted,  in  structure  and  constitution,  pre- 
cisely to  the  station  in  which  it  is  naturally 
found.  In  a  district  exposed  to  extremes, 
whether  of  heat,  cold,  moisture,  or  aridity,  the 
indigenous  animal  or  plant  has  the  means  of 
avoiding  them,  or  else  is  protected  against 
them  in  its  outer  covering  ;  purposes  accom- 
plished in  various  modes,  some  of  which  are 
sufficiently  familiar.  It  will  follow  that  if  Eu- 
rope were  the  proper  home  of  the  white  man, 
he  would  be  born  with  natural  clothing  ;  with, 
at  least,  some  inherent  provision  securing  the 
maintenance  of  life  without  aid  from  art.  Ma?i 
then  does  not  belong  to  cold  and  variable  clU 
mates  ;  his  original  birth-place  has  been  in  a  re- 
gion of  perpetual  summer,  where  the  unprotected 
skin  bears  without  suferitig  the  slight  fiuctua- 
tions  of  temperature.  He  is,  in  fact,  essentially 
a  production  of  the  tropics,  and  there  has  been  a 
time  when  the  human  family  had,  not  strayed  be- 
yond  t  ese  geographical  limi  sJ''-' 

'  C.  i'.r:.;::iiN-;    ?.!   D.     laces  ol  Man,  etc. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EVIDENCE    OF     COMMUNITY   OF    DESCENT   DERIVED   FROM 
LINGUISTIC   AFFINITIES. 

We  have  thus  seen  that  the  analogy  of  other 
animals  furnishes  no  argument  against  the  doc- 
trine of  a  single  birthplace  for  the  human  races 
since  the  difference  in  the  circumstances  de- 
stroys the  force  of  the  analogy.  We  are  now 
prepared  to  go  further,  and  to  show  that  the 
new  doctrine  is  itself  utterly  irreconcilable  with 
some  of  the  best  established  facts  in  modern 
science.  We  proceed  to  indicate  a  few  out  of 
very  many  striking  facts  and  inductions  fur- 
nished by  the  study  of  comparative  Philology. 

The  universality  of  spoken  language,  and  es- 
pecially the  existence  of  terms  in  every  lan- 
guage expressive  of  abstract  ideas  and  relations, 
have  been  justly  regarded  as  pregnant  tokens 
of  the  intellectual  nature  of  all  the  varieties  of 

[196] 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  197 

man.  And  when  we  find  in  the  tongues  of  dif- 
ferent tribes  the  same  words  to  express  the 
same  ideas,  and  similar  grammatical  construc- 
tions— we  cannot  avoid  the  conclusion  that  they 
must  have  had  a  common  origin.  Of  course, 
such  a  fact  did  not  escape  the  attention  of  the 
advocates  of  the  new  theory  :  let  us  see  how 
they  have  attempted  to  get  over  it.  In  an  ar- 
ticle published  by  Prof.  Agassiz,  in  1850,  in  the 
Christian  Examiner,  of  Boston,  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing passage,  which  has  since  been  cited  by 
Nott  and  Gliddon  with  an  air  of  triumph,  as  an 
"  admirable  expression  of  new  and  most  inter- 
esting views  on  the  natural  origin  of  speech  :" 

"  As  for  languages,  their  common  structure, 
and  even  the  analog}'  in  the  sounds  of  different 
languages,  far  from  indicating  a  derivation  of 
one  from  another,  seems  to  us  rather  the  neces- 
sary result  of  that  similarity  in  the  organs  of 
speech  which  causes  them  naturally  to  produce 
the  same  sound.  Who  would  now  deny  that  it 
is  as  natural  for  men  to  speak  as  it  is  for  a  dog 
to  bark,  for  an  ass  to  bray,  for  a  lion  to  roar, 
for  a  wolf  to  howl,  when  we   see  that  no   na- 


198  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

tions  are  so  barbarous,  so  deprived  of  all  hu- 
man character,  as  to  be  unable  to  express  in 
language  their  desires,  their  fears,  their  hopes? 
And  if  a  unity  of  language,  any  analog}^  in  sound 
and  structure  between  the  languages  of  the 
white  races,  indicate  a  closer  connection  between 
the  different  nations  of  that  race,  would  not  the 
difference  which  has  been  observed  in  the  struc- 
ture of  the  languages  of  the  wild  races — 
would  not  the  power  the  American  Indians 
have  naturally  to  utter  gutturals  which  the 
white  man  can  hardly  imitate,  afford  additional 
evidence  that  these  races  did  not  originate  from 
a  common  stock,  but  are  only  closely  allied  as 
men,  endowed  equally  with  the  same  intel- 
lectual powers,  the  same  organs  of  speech,  the 
same  sympathies,  only  developed  in  slightly  dif- 
ferent ways  in  the  different  races,  precisely  as 
we  observe  the  fact  between  closely  allied  spe- 
cies of  the  same  genus  among  birds  ? 

"There  is  no  ornithologist  who  ever  watched 
the  natural  habits  of  birds  and  their  notes,  who 
has  not  been  surprised  at  the  similarity  of  into- 
nation   of  the    notes  of  closely   allied  species, 


THE     HUMAN    RACES.  199 

and  the  greater  difference  between  the  notes  of 
birds  belonging  to  different  genera  and  fami- 
Ues.  The  cry  of  birds  of  prey  is  ahke  unpleas- 
ant and  rough  in  all;  the  song  of  all  the 
thrushes  is  equally  sweet  and  harmonious,  and 
modulated  upon  similar  rhythms,  and  combined 
in  similar  melodies  ;  the  chit  of  all  titmice  is 
loquacious  and  hard  ;  the  quack  of  the  duck 
is  alike  nasal  in  all.  But  who  ever  thought 
that  the  robin  learned  his  melody  from  the 
mocking-bird,  or  the  mocking-bird  from  any 
other  species  of  thrush  ?  Who  ever  fancied 
that  the  field  crow  learned  his  cawing  from  the 
raven  or  the  jack-daw  ?  Certainly,  no  one  at 
all  acquainted  with  the  natural  history  of  birds. 
And  why  should  it  be  different  with  men  ? 
Why  should  not  the  different  races  of  men  have 
originally  spoken  distinct  languages,  as  they  do 
at  present,  differing  in  the  same  proportions  as 
their  organs  of  speech  are  variously  modified  ? 
And  why  should  not  these  modifications  in  their 
turn  be  indicative  of  primitive  differences 
among  them  ?  It  were  giving  up  all  induction, 
all    power    of   arguing    from    sound    premises, 


200  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

if  the   force  of  such  evidence  were  to  be  de- 
nied." 

But  surely  it  cannot  be  necessary  to  point 
out  the  obvious  fallacy  of  such  analogical  rea- 
soning as  this.  We  admit  that  inarticulate 
cries  are  as  "  natural"  to  man  as  to  other 
mammalians,  and  that  a  certain  degree  of  simi- 
larity in  the  intonation  of  these  sounds  would 
not  of  itself  indicate  more  than  a  generic  affin- 
ity between  the  different  classes  of  individuals 
giving  utterance  to  them.  We  also  admit  that 
there  is  a  special  adaptation  of  man's  vocal  ap- 
paratus for  the  formation  of  articulate  sounds, 
but  we  deny  that  there  is  any  satisfactor}' 
proof  that  the  adjustment  is  of  such  a  kind  as 
to  lead  to  a  natural  and  untaught  manifestation 
of  the  power  of  using  speech  as  a  sign  of 
thought,  or  to  account  for  the  universality 
of  the  phenomenon  on  the  supposition  that  the 
races  had  separate  origins.  If,  then,  the  alle- 
gations in  the  passage  just  cited  respecting  the 
identity  or  close  affinity  of  the  notes  of  different 
species  of  the  same  family  were  undeniable 
(Dr.  Bachman   proves   to   our  satisfaction  that 


V^       01"  THE  ^ 

THE    HUMAN    ^  A  C  E^^^J  J^"  J  y  f)j^  g  V 

they  are  very  far  from  being  so),*  the  fact 
would  avail  nothing  in  this  controversy,  since 
it  is  not  the  identity  of  intonation,  nor  the 
power  of  making  similar  articulate  sounds,  hut 
the  cojnmon  agirement  in  making,  by  a  purely 
arbitrary  system,  certain  sounds  to  represent 
the  same  ideas,  which  identifies  the  human 
races  as  scions  from  a  common  stock. 

And  then  the  argument  of  Prof.  Agassiz 
proves  too  much.  If  it  accounts  for  the  agree- 
ment in  certain  directions,  it  gains  this  appar- 
ent advantage  only  at  the  cost  of  leaving  us 
the  difficult,  nay,  impossible  task,  of  accounting 
for  differences  which  according  to  his  theory 
ought  not  to  exist.  It  is  true  that  Agassiz 
seems  to  have  anticipated  this  objection,  and 
that  he  has  set  it  aside  in  the  most  summary 
way,  alleging,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the  lan- 
iruaees  of  the  different  races  differ  in  the  same 
proportions  as  their  organs  of  speech  are  va- 
riously modified !  If  the  Professor  means  to 
aver,  as  many  persons  unacquainted  with  Hu- 

*  J.  Bachjian,  D.  D.     Charleston  Medical  Journal  aud  Review,  No- 
vember. 1S54,  p.  798. 


G* 


202  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

man  Anatomy  have  been  induced  by  the  peru- 
sal of  his  remarks  on  this  subject  to  believe, 
that  the  vocal  organs  of  men  of  different  races 
are  characterized  by  appreciable  differences  of 
structure,  we  would  respectfully  ask,  by  whom 
have  the  observations  been  made  which  sub- 
stantiate the  fact  and  demonstrate  a  constant 
relation  between  such  peculiarities  of  structure 
and  the  languages  spoken  by  different  races  ? 

That  the  habitual  employment  from  infancy 
of  a  certain  class  of  sounds  belona-ino;  to  the 
native  language  of  a  people  will  be  attended  by 
an  appropriate  state  of  the  vocal  apparatus  dif- 
fering from  that  induced  by  the  habitual  use  of 
a  distinct  class  of  sounds,  we  are  free  to  ad- 
mit ;  but  surely  Prof.  Agassiz  cannot  seriously 
think  that  any  such  structural  modifications  of 
the  vocal  organs  peculiar  to  races  are  any  more 
persistent  than  other  acquired  pecuharities  due 
to  systematic  culture.  That  such  structural 
peculiarities  of  the  vocal  apparatus  in  the  dif- 
ferent races  of  man  are  not  permanent,  and 
therefore  not  in  the  least  "  indicative  of  primi- 
tive   differences   among   them,"  we   confidently 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  203 

assert,  and  we  cannot  but  be  surprised  that 
Prof.  Agassiz  should  have  given  expression, 
even  in  the  heat  of  argument  while  defending  a 
theory,  to  a  statement  so  entirely  unsupported 
by  facts. 

Other  advocates  of  the  plural  origin  of  man 
have  assailed  the  unity-doctrine  as  maintained 
by  all  the  best  comparative  philologists  from  a 
different  point  of  attack.  The  Westminster  Re- 
view, for  April,  1856,  in  a  notice  of  the  "  Types 
of  Mankind,"  quotes  the  opinions  of  Crawfurd, 
author  of  a  "History  of  the  Indian  Archipel- 
ago," in  opposition  to  the  carefully  digested 
views  of  the  late  Baron  William  Humboldt, 
who,  in  his  celebrated  "  Analysis  of  the  Kawi 
Language,"  demonstrated  the  unity  of  the 
tongues  of  the  numerous  types  of  mankind 
now  generally  designated  as  the  Malayo-Poly- 
nesian  races. 

"The  object,"  says  the  reviewer,  "of  Mr. 
Crawfurd's  elaborate  inquiry,  which  is  con- 
ducted with  great  judgment  and  care,  as  well 
as  learning,  is  the  refutation  of  this  hypothesis. 
In  the  opening  of  his  labors,  the  author  points 


204  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

out  that  language  is  neither  a  test  of  race,  nor 
invariably  identical  with  race,  and  that  there  is 
no  indication  of  such  supposed  parent  lan- 
guage or  people  in  the  regions  referred  to.  Mr. 
Crawfurd  differs  fundamentally  from  the  Ger- 
man philologers,  as  to  the  number  and  kind  of 
words  to  be  selected  as  tests  of  a  common 
tongue.  Baron  William  Humboldt  contented 
himself  with  a  vocabulary  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  words,  the  synonyms  of  which  he 
traced  through  nine  languages,  four  out  of 
which  were  Polynesian  dialects,  for  the  basis 
of  his  colossal  hypothesis.  The  terms  exjoress- 
ing  the  first  and  simplest  ideas  of  mankind,  are 
those,  our  author  considers,  from  the  familiar- 
ity and  frequency  of  the  ideas  they  express,  to 
be  the  most  amenable  to  adoption.  The  per- 
sonal pronouns  are  equally  objectionable  tests, 
'  as  they  are  the  most  interchangeable  of  all 
classes  of  words.'  And  the  numerals  must  be 
excluded  from  earl}^  invented  words,  as  they 
imply  social  advancement,  and  are  the  most 
likely  words  to  be  adopted  by  savages.  The 
words  chosen  by  our  author,  as  tests  of  a  unity 


THE    HUM  A  N    RACES.  205 

of  languages,  arc  those  indispensable  to  their 
structure,  without  which  they  cannot  be  spoken 
or  written — '  the  prepositions,  which  represent 
the  cases  of  languages  of  complex  structure  ; 
and  the  auxiliaries  which  represent  times  and 
moods.'  'After  as  careful  an  examination  as  I 
have  been  able  to  make  of  the  many  languages 
involved  in  the  present  inquiry,  and  duly  con- 
sidering the  physical  and  geographical  charac- 
ter of  the  wide  field  over  which  they  are 
spoken,  with  the  social  condition  of  its  various 
inhabitants,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  words  which  are  common  to  so  many 
tongues,  have  been  chiefly  derived  from  the 
lano-uasres  of  the  most  civilized  and  adven- 
turous  nations  of  the  Archipelago — the  Malays 
and  Javanese  people  very  nearly  allied.  Li 
truth,  these  Malays  are  the  maritime  and  com- 
mercial people  of  the  great  Indian  and  Pacific 
oceans,  who  have  penetrated  everywhere  for 
aeres,  who  are  known  as  traders  and  marauders 
in  New-Guinea  and  New-Caledonia,  as  well  as 
all  intermediate  islands,  and  whose  enterprise 
and    daring    scarcely   acknowledge    any  limits. 


206  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

And  it  is  words  from  their  language  which 
have  been  introduced  into  all  the  others  :  fre- 
quently, it  must  be  acknowledged,  to  express 
ideas  entirely  new  to  the  people  who  have 
adopted  them.  Malay,  therefore,  is  the  great 
common  element  pei'vading,  in  various  degrees, 
all  the  languages  spoken  in  the  vast  regions  we 
have  described,  whose  introduction  is  nearly  as 
easy  to  understand  as  it  is  to  account  for  the 
English  terms  in  the  native  languages  of  ISTorth 
America,  Australia,  or  other  countries  to  which 
English  commerce  and  colonization  have  ex- 
tended.' ''* 

We  have  quoted  the  foregoing  remarks  both 
because  we  desire  to  present  a  fair  statement 
of  the  argument  of  our  opponents,  and  because 
they  serve  to  show  that  the  extraordinary  doc- 
trine of  Prof  Agassiz  on  the  natural  analogies 
of  languages  is  not  relied  upon  even  by  those 
who  agree  with  him  in  believing  that  the  races 
of  men  are  of  distinct  origins.  Mr.  Crawfurd 
and  the  Westminster  reviewer  grant  that  ver- 
bal coincidences,    if  properly  chosen,    may  be 

*  Westminster  Review,  April,  1856,  p.  207. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  207 

tests  of  unity,  the  main  difference  between  them 
and  the  great  lights  of  comparative  philology 
having  respect  to  the  particular  kind  of  words 
whose  occurrence  in  several  different  languages 
would  indicate  the  unity  or  common  origin  of 
the  latter.     We  have  just   seen  what  are  the 
peculiar  views  of  Mr.  Crawfurd  as  indorsed  by 
the   reviewer.     We   think   it  a  significant  fact, 
as  serving  to  indicate  the  bias  under  which,  it 
is  probable,  the  views  of  Mr.  Crawfurd  were 
formed,   that  he   lays  great  stress    upon   "the 
physical  and  geographical  character  of  the  wide 
field  over   which    they  (the    languages   of  the 
Malayo-Polynesian   races)   are   spoken."     In   a 
word,   it  is   apparent  that   he  had   formed   an 
opinion  as  to  the  diversity  of  races  inhabiting 
"the  wide   field''  of   the  Indian   Archipelago, 
prior  to  his  inquiries  into  the  value  of  linguistic 
affinities,  and  thus  that  his  views  on  this  latter 
topic,  at  variance  as  they  are  in  many  important 
respects  with  those  of  the  most  reliable  philol- 
ogists of  the  age,  were  determined  by  circum- 
stances which   denoted   a  foregone   conclusion. 
We   do   not  charge  an}^  unfairness  in  this.     It 


208  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

was  perfectly  legitimate  to  consider  "  the  physi- 
cal and  geographical  character  of  the  wide  field 
over  which  the  languages  were  spoken  and  the 
social  condition  of  its  various  inhabitants,"  in 
investigating  the  source  of  the  verbal  coinci- 
dences detected  in  so  many  languages  ;  but  we 
are   fully    satisfied    that    his    mind    received    a 
wrong  bias  from  the  exaggerated  estimate  he 
formed  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  accept- 
ing the   doctrine    of  the    ir  ily  of  these   races, 
presented    by  the  widi'iiess   of   the   field   over 
which  they  were  dispersed  in  isolated  islands, 
some  of  which  were  separated  from  the  rest  by 
hundreds  of  miles  of  ocean  ;    and  that   under 
the   influence    of   this    prejudice    he  set  about 
seeking  for  some  other  explanation  of  the  ver- 
bal  coincidences  in  their  languages  than  that 
which    rests    upon    a    belief  in    their  common 
origin  ;    although,   with   singular  inconsistency, 
he  finally  adopts  an  explanation  which  supposes 
precisely  that  very  dispersion  of  one  race,  the 
presumed  impossibility  of  which  has  led  to  the 
rejection  of  the  doctrine  of  a  common   origin, 
and  had  given  rise  to  the  untenable  hypothesis 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  209 

of  each  subordinate  race  being  an  autochthon 
of  the  special  area  within  which  it  was  mainly 
circumscribed. 

From  the  almost  contemptuous  way  in  which 
the  Westminster  reviewer  speaks  of  Baron  W. 
Humboldt,  one  would  suppose  that  this  great 
scholar  had  actually  no  other  basis  for  his  "  co- 
lossal hypothesis,"  as  the  reviewer  terms  it,  of 
the  unity  of  the  Malayo  -  Polynesian  dialects, 
than  the  discovery  of  the  synonyms  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  words  in  nine  languages, 
words,  too,  of  a  character  the  most  reliable  to 
be  adopted  from  abroad.  N"ow  let  us  hear  what 
a  competent  and  trustworthy  judge  has  pro- 
nounced with  reference  to  this  very  work  of 
the  great  philologist  :  "  By  a  rare  combination 
of  philosophical  thought,"  says  the  Chevalier 
BuNSEN,  himself  standing  in  the  very  front  rank 
of  the  comparative  philologists  of  the  age, 
"philological  accuracy,  and  of  linguistic  re- 
search, a  method  had  been  established  for  ana- 
Ivzino-  a  o'iven  languao;e,  and  detecting  its  affin- 
ities  with  another  of  the  same  family.  By  this 
process,  in  the   Semitic,  and  still  more  in  Ja- 


210  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

plietic  languages,  the  general  observations  of 
preceding  philosophers  on  the  characteristics 
and  the  relative  advantages  or  imperfections  of 
the  languages  of  mankind  had  become  entirely 
obsolete,  being  partly  incomplete  and  partly 
erroneous,  and  all  inaccurate,  scientifically 
speaking.  The  great  desideratum,  then,  was, 
that  more  accurate  reflections  should  be  made 
on  those  points  by  an  eminent  philosophical 
mind,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  modern 
discoveries.  This  want  has  been  supplied  in  an 
admirable  manner  by  the  immortal  postlmmous 
work  of  WilHani  von  Humboldt,  the  introduc- 
tion to  his  analysis  of  the  Kawi  language.  The 
title  of  this  introduction  is,  '  On  the  Diversity 
of  the  Constructions  of  Human  Language,  and 
its  Influence  on  the  Intellectual  Development 
of  Mankind.'  Beginning  with  the  simplest  ele- 
ments of  speech,  the  illustrious  author  gradu- 
ally proceeds  to  the  construction  of  a  sentence, 
as  the  expression  of  intellect  and  thought,"  etc. 
"The  researches  of  this  work  belong  to  the 
calculus  suhlimis  of  Linguistic  theory.  It  places 
Wilhelm   von    Humboldt's    name    in    universal 


T  H  E    H  U  M  A  X    R  A  C  E  S  .  211 

comparative  ethnologic  philology  by  the  side  of 
that  of  Leibnitz."* 

Let  us  now  inquire  what  is  the  kind  of  words 
usually  adopted,  as  tests  of  a  unity  of  tongues, 
by  the  most  careful  and  profound  philologists, 
and  so  summarily  rejected  by  Mr.  Crawfurd  and 
the  Westminster  reviewer.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  Humboldts,  the  Bunsens,  the  Miillers, 
and  others  who  are  the  acknowledged  heads  in 
this  department  of  ethnological  inquiry,  have 
by  no  means  ignored  the  influence  on  languages 
resulting  from  the  frequent  or  occasional  inter- 
course of  the  races  by  wliich  they  were  respec- 
tively spoken. 

Thus,  Dr.  Prichard,  in  one  of  the  latest  pro- 
ductions from  his  pen, — an  elaborate  "  Report 
on  the  various  methods  of  research  which  con- 
tribute to  the  advancement  of  Ethnology,  and 
of  the  relations  of  that  science  to  other  branches 
of  knowledsfe  ;  read  before  the  British  Scien- 
tiflc  Association  in  1847," — expressly  notices, 
and  appreciates  at  its  true  value,  the  influence 

*  Report  of  the  Brltisli  Association  for  tlie  Advancement  of  Science, 
1847,  pp.  163-4. 


212  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

of  commercial  and  other  kinds  of  intercourse 
in    introducing   words   from    one    tongue    into 
another  ;  and  it  is  onl}^  where  the  circumstances 
exckide  this  explanation  that  another  interpre- 
tation is  put  upon  peculiar  verbal  coincidences. 
"  Glottology,"  which,  though  an  uncouth  word, 
he  considers  a  better  expression  than  "Philol- 
ogy," as  this  latter  has  also  another  signification, 
"  may  be  regarded  almost  as  a  new  department 
of  knowledge,  since,  although  long  ago  sketched 
out  and  pursued  to  a  certain  extent,  it  has  been 
wonderfully  augmented  in  recent  times  ;  and  it 
is   only  through  its  later  development  that  it 
comes    to    have    any  extensive    relations   with 
ethnology.     Leibnitz  is  generally  considered  to 
have  been  its  originator.     The  Adelungs,  Vater, 
Klaproth,  Frederick  Schlegel,  Bopp,  and  Jacob 
Grimm,  have  been    among  its   most  successful 
cultivators;  and  lastly,  to  William  von  Humboldt 
it  owes  its  greatest  extension  and  the  character 
of  a  profound  philosophical  investigation.     But 
it  is  not  in  this  light  that  we  have  now  to  con- 
sider the  results  of  philological  researches.     It 
is  as  an  auxiliary  to  history,  and  as  serving  in 


T  H  E    H  U  M  A  N    R  A  C  E  S  .  213 

many  instances  to  extend,  combine,  and  confirm 
historical  evidence  respecting  the  origin  and 
affinities  of  particular  nations,  that  the  compari- 
son of  languages  contributes  to  the  advancement 
of  ethnology.  If  ever  we  venture  on  the  testi- 
mony of  such  relationship  between  languages  as 
giving  proof  of  ancient  kindred  between  na- 
tions, it  must  be  when  historical  considerations 
render  the  conclusion  in  itself  probable,  or  indi- 
cate that  it  affords  the  most  natural  explanation 
of  the  phenomena  observed.  Great  caution  is 
requisite  in  drawing  inferences  of  this  kind, 
since  we  cannot  always  conclude  that  nations  be- 
long to  the  same  race  from  resemhlance  or  identity 
in  their  speech.  We  know  that  conquests  fol- 
lowed by  permanent  subjugation  have  caused 
the  people  of  some  countries  to  lose  their  own 
languages  and  adopt  those  of  their  conquerors. 
The  intercourse  of  traffic  between  dificreut 
countries,  the  introduction  of  a  new  rehgion 
and  new  habits  of  life,  especially  when  rude 
and  barbarous  tribes  have  been  brought  into 
near  connection  with  civilized  ones,  liave  given 
rise  to  great  modifications  in  many  kmguages. 


214  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

It  is  only  when  we  have  good  reason  to  believe 
that  the  resemblances  between  the  idioms  of 
any  particular  nations  have  arisen  from  no  sim- 
ilar causes,  that  we  are  justified  in  founding  on 
such  phenomena  an  argument  in  favor  of  their 
affinity  in  descent.  The  reasons  which  may  de- 
termine us  to  entertain  this  opinion  may  be  of 
two  kinds  ;  they  may  either  arise  from  a  con- 
sideration of  the  local  position  and  previous  his- 
tory of  the  tribes  of  people  who  are  the  subjects 
of  our  inquiry,  or  they  may  turn  on  the  particu- 
lar  sort  of  resemhlance  or  analogy  discovered  in 
their  lans^ua9:es. 

"In  the  first  place,  if  we  learn  from  history 
that  any  two  nations  have  been  remotel}^  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  from  a  very  distant  age, 
and  have  never  been  brought  into  intercourse, 
we  may  hence  argue  that  the  marks  of  resem- 
blance discovered  in  their  languages  can  bear 
no  other  explanation  than  that  of  unity  of  de- 
scent. On  this  ground  we  hifer  loithout  doubt 
the  common  origin  of  the  Polynesian  Islanders 
and  that  of  the  Greeks,  and  Germans,  and  the 
Ariaii  race  of  Hindustan.    Secondly,  phenomena 


THE    HUMAN     RACES.  215 

are  discoverable  in  languages  themselves,  which 
enable  us  to  determine  whether  traits  of  resem- 
blance detected  in  their  comparison  were  pro- 
duced by  intercourse  between  nations,  or  arose 
in  the  gradual  development  of  their  languages, 
and  thus  prove  a  common  origin  in  the  tribes 
of  people  to  which  these  languages  belong. 
Analogies  from  which  this  last  inference  may  he 
fairly  drawn  have  in  many  instances  been  de- 
tected between  languages  which  have  acquired 
in  the  lapse  of  time  such  differences,  that  one 
dialect  was  unintelligible  to  people  who  spoke 
another  idiom  of  the  same  stock.  The  follow- 
ing observations  will  perhaps  explain  as  briefly 
as  possible  the  principles  which  have  either  been 
expressed  or  followed  tacitly  by  philologists  who 
have  entered  upon  such  inquiries. 

"It  is  the  prevalent  opinion  of  philologists 
that  the  most  extensive  relations  between  lan- 
a'uao-es  and  those  which  are  the  least  liable  to 
be  effaced  by  time  and  foreign  intercourse,  are 
the  fundamental  laws  of  construction  both  in 
words  and  sentences.  Grammatical  construc- 
tion, or  the  rules  which  govern  the  relations  of 


216  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

words  ill  sentences,  appears  to  be  very  enduring 
and  constant,  since  a  similar  construction  prevails 
through  whole  classes  of  lariguages  which  have 
few  words  in  common,  though  they  appear  origi- 
nally to  have  had  more.  But  beyond  this  there 
is  a  cognate  character  in  words  themselves, 
which  sometimes  pervades  the  entire  vocabulary 
of  a  whole  family  of  languages,  the  words  being 
formed  in  the  same  manner  and  according  to 
the  same  artificial  rule.  This  may  be  exemph- 
fied  in  the  monosyllabic  structure  of  the  Chinese 
and  Indo-Chinese  languages,  and  by  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  vocalic  harmony  pervading  the  lan- 
guages of  High-Asia,  and  perhaps  by  the  dis- 
syllabic structure  of  roots  in  the  Syro-Arabian 
languages.  Of  grammatical  analogy  or  simi- 
larity in  the  laws  of  construction  of  words  in 
sentences,  including  the  rules  of  inflection,  we 
have  examples  in  the  languages  of  the  aborigi- 
nal American  nations,  but  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  specimen  is  to  be  found  in  the 
grammatical  system  of  the  Indo-EurojDean  lan- 
guages.'" * 

*  lleport  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  f^cience, 
for  1847,  pp.  239,  240. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  217 

He  then  proceeds  to  point  out  the 
particular  classes  of  words  which  resem- 
ble each  other  in  languages  of  a  common 
origin,  and  to  show  that  they  are  gener- 
ally different  in  kind  from  those  which 
one  nation  borrows  from  its  neighbors.  For 
"  even  where  one  people  has  derived  from 
another  a  considerable  proportion  of  its  entire 
stock  of  words,  there  generally  remains  an 
indigenous  or  aboriginal  vocabulary,  or,  if  I  may 
use  the  expression,  a  homebred  speech,  consist- 
ing of  such  words  as  children  learn  in  early 
infancy,  and  in  the  first  development  of  their 
faculties.  This  domestic  vocabulary  consists  of 
the  words  of  first  necessity,  such  as  those  denot- 
ing family  relations,  '  father,'  '  mother,'  '  child,' 
'-brother,'  'sister;'  secondly,  words  denoting 
various  parts  of  the  body  ;  thirdly,  names  of 
material  and  visible  objects  and  the  elements 
of  nature,  the  heavenly  bodies,  etc.;  fourthly, 
names  of  domestic  animals  ;  fifthly,  verbs  ex- 
pressive of  universal  bodily  acts,  such  as,  '  eat,' 
'drink,'  'sleep.'  'walk,'  'talk,'  etc.;  sixthly, 
personal  pronouns,  which  are  found  to  be  among 
10 


218  CO M  M  o  -\    1'  A  i;  i:  n  t  a  g  e  of 

the  most  durable  parts  of  a  language  ;  seventhly, 
numerals,  especially  the  first  ten,  or  at  least  the 
first  five,  for  many  nations  appear  to  have  bor- 
rowed the  second  five  in  the  decade.  As  no 
human  family  was  ever  without  its  stock  of  such 
words,  and  as  they  are  never  changed  within 
the  narrow  domestic  circle  for  other  and  strange 
words,  they  are  almost  indestructible  possessions, 
and  it  is  almost  only  among  tribes  who  have 
been  broken  up  and  enslaved,  so  that  the  family 
relations  have  been  destroyed,  that  this  domes- 
tic language  can  have  been  wholly  lost.  Tribes 
and  families  separated  from  each  other  have 
been  known  to  have  preserved  such  similar 
words  for  thousands  of  years  in  a  degree  of 
purity  that  admitted  of  an  easy  recognition  of 
this  sign  of  a  common  origin." 

It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Crawfurd  and  the 
Westminster  Review  are  directly  at  issue  with  the 
great  body  of  modern  philologists,  whose  opiii- 
ions  are  represented  in  the  report  of  Dr.  Prichard, 
as  to  the  kind  of  words  which  are  least  likel}' 
to  be  effaced  by  time  and  foreign  intercourse. 
Let  it  also  be  observed  that  the  principles  an- 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  219 

nouiiced  by  the  former  are  purely  gratuitous 
and  assumed  to  meet  a  case,  while  those  so 
perspicuously  expounded  by  Dr.  Prichard  result 
from  a  rigorous  induction  based  on  a  most 
careful  study  of  all  the  known  languages  of 
man. 

On  this  point,  and  incidentally  on  the  general 
question  of  the  unity  of  races,  we  have  the 
weighty  testimony  of  the  most  illustrious  of  liv- 
ing savans,  Baron  Alexander  von  Humboldt. 

"  Languages  compared  together  and  consid- 
ered as  objects  of  the  natural  history  of  the  mind, 
and  when  separated  into  families  according  to 
the  analogies  existing  in  their  internal  structure, 
have  become  a  rich  source  of  historical  knowl- 
edge ;  and  this  is  probably  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  results  of  modern  study  in  the  last 
sixty  or  seventy  years.  From  the  very  fact  of 
their  being  products  of  the  intellectual  force  of 
mankind,  they  lead  us,  by  means  of  the  elements 
of  their  organism,  into  an  obscure  distance,  un- 
reached by  traditionary  records.  The  compara- 
tive study  of  languages  shows  us  that  races  now 
separated  by  vast  tracts  of  land,  are  allied  to- 


220  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OP 

gether,  and  have  migrated  from  one  common 
primitive  seat ;  it  indicates  the  course  and  direc- 
tion of  all  migrations,  and,  in  tracing  the  leading 
epoch  of  developments  it  recognizes,  by  means 
of  the  more  or  less  changed  structure  of  the  lan- 
guage, in  the  permanence  of  certain  forms,  or  in 
the  more  or  less  advanced  distinction  of  the 
formative  system,  which  race  has  retained  most 
nearly  the  language  common  to  all  who  had 
migrated  from  the  general  seat  of  origin." 

"  The  largest  field  for  such  investigations 
into  the  ancient  condition  of  language,  and  con- 
sequently into  the  period  when  the  whole  fam- 
ily of  mankind  was,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  to  be  regarded  as  one  living  whole,  pre- 
sents itself  in  the  long  chain  of  Indo-Germanic 
languages,  extending  from  the  Ganges  to  the 
Iberian  extremity  of  Europe,  and  from  Sicily  to 
the  North  Cape." 

"From  these  considerations  and  the  exam- 
ples by  which  they  have  been  illustrated,  the 
comparative  study  of  languages  appears  an  im- 
portant rational  means  of  assistance  by  which 
scientific   and  genuinely  philological  investiga- 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  221 

tion  may  lead  to  a  generalization  of  views  re- 
garding the  affinity  of  races,  and  their  conjec- 
tural extension  in  various  directions  from  one 
common  point  of  radiation ^'^ 

We  add,  on  account  of  its  striking  and  pop- 
ular style  of  illustration,  the  testimony  of  an- 
other eminent  scholar  of  Germany,  Dr.  Max 
MiiLLER,  who  has  successfully  investigated  the 
relations  of  the  languages  of  India.  "  The  evi- 
dence of  language,"  says  this  competent  wit- 
ness, "  is  irrefragable,  and  it  is  the  only  evi- 
dence worth  listening  to,  with  regard  to  ante- 
historical  periods.  It  would  have  been  next  to 
impossible  to  discover  any  traces  of  relationship 
between  the  swarthy  nations  of  India  and  their 
conquerors,  whether  Alexander  or  Clive,  but 
for  the  testimony  borne  by  language.  What 
authority  would  have  been  strong  enough  to 
persuade  the  Grecian  army  that  their  gods  and 
their  hero  ancestors  were  the  same  as  those  of 
Kins:  Porus,  or  to  convince  the  Eno-Hsh  soldier 
that  the  same  dark  blood  was  running  in  his 
veins  and  in  those  of  the  dark  Bengalee  ?     And 

*  Cosmos.     Otte's  Translation,  Vol.  II  ,  pp.  Ill,  112. 


222  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

yet  there  is  not  an  English  jury  nowadays 
which,  after  examining  the  hoary  documents  of 
language,  would  reject  the  claim  of  a  common 
descent  and  a  legitimate  relationship  between 
Hindu,  Greek,  and  Teuton.  Many  words  still 
live  in  India  and  in  England  that  have  wit- 
nessed the  first  separation  of  the  northern  and 
southern  members  of  the  Arian  family  ;  and 
these  are  witnesses  not  to  be  shaken  by  any 
cross-examination.  The  terms  for  God,  for 
house,  for  father,  mother,  son,  daughter,  for 
dog  and  cow,  for  heart  and  tears,  for  axe  and 
tree — identical  in  all  the  European  idiotns — are 
like  the  watch-words  of  soldiers.  We  challenge 
the  seeming  stranger  ;  and  whether  he  answer 
with  the  lips  of  a  Greek,  a  German,  or  an  In- 
dian, we  recognize  him  as  one  of  ourselves. 
Though  the  historian  may  shake  his  head, 
though  the  physiologist  may  doubt,  and  the  poet 
scorn  the  idea,  all  must  yield  before  the  fact 
furnished  by  language."* 

*  We  are  indebted  to  an  able  article  in  tlie  Southern  Quarterly  Re- 
viein,  for  January,  1855.  for  the  above  extract  from  the  writings  of 
Dr.  Max  MiiUer,  to  none  of  which  have  we  had  direct  access,  except 
a  lecture  delivered  before  the  British  Scientific  Association,  in  1847, 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  223 

The  valuable  and  interesting  essay  by  the 
Chevalier  Bunsen,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  contains  numerous  other  passages  which 
it  would  give  us  satisfaction  to  lay  before  our 
readers,  but  we  must  content  ourselves  with  a 
few  selections.  The  paper  referred  to  is  an 
elaborate  "  Report,"  read  before  the  Ethno- 
logical section  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  at  Oxford,  in  June, 
1847,  "  On  the  Results  of  the  recent  Egyptian 
Researches,  in  reference  to  Asiatic  and  Afri- 
can Ethnology,  and  the  Classification  of  Lan- 
guages.' 

Referring  to  the  forms,  formative  words  and 
inflexions  of  the  Egyptian  language,  in  their 
natural  order  and  connection,  and  to  the 
"Egyptian  roots  which  can  be  proved  to  have 
formed  the  heirloom  of  that  nation,  as  they 
occur  in  monuments  not  more  recent  than  the 
time  of  Moses,  and  in  great  part  anterior  to 
him  by  a  thousand  years  and  more,"  Bunsen 
says  :  "  It  is  impossible  to  look  on  those  forms 

"  On  the  Relations  of  the  BengaU  to  the  Arian  and  Aboriginal  Lan- 
guages of  India." 


/■ 


224  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

and    on   those   roots,  with    even    a  superficial 
knowledge  of  the  Semitic  and  Indo-Germanic 
languages,  and  not  to  perceive  that  the  Egyp- 
tian language  is  no  more  a  Hebrew  than  a  Sans- 
crit dialect,   but  that    it   possesses   an    affinity 
with  each  of  them,  such  as  compels  us  to  ask 
the  question,  whether  it  is  a  more  ancient  for- 
mation than  either  or  no  ?     This  question   be- 
comes  the    more    interesting    and    important, 
when  it  must  be   considered  as  demonstrated 
that  such  an  affinity  cannot  be   explained   by 
mere  internal  analogy  ;  that,  on  the   contraiy, 
it    is    historical    in   the    strictest    sense  of  the 
word, — namelj',  ])hysical^   or  original.     I  mean 
that  the  affinity  alluded  to  cannot  rationally  be 
explained  by  a  real  or  supposed  general  analogy 
of    languages,   as    the    expressions    of    human 
thought  or  feeling,  nor  by  the  later  influence 
of    other     nations    and     tongues.       Now    the 
Egyptian  name  of  Egypt  is  Chmii,  the  land  of 
Cham,  which  in  Egyptian   means   black.     Can 
we,    then,    have    really    found    in    Egypt    the 
scientific  and   historical    meaning   of  Cham,  as 
one  of  the  tripartite  divisions  of  post-diluvian 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  225 

humanit}^?  The  Egyptian  language  attests  a 
unity  of  blood  with  the  great  Aramaic  tribes  of 
Asia,  whose  languages  have  been  comprised  by 
scholars  under  the  general  expression  of  Se- 
mitic, or  the  languages  of  the  family  of  Shem. 
It  is  equally  connected  by  identity  of  origin 
with  those  still  more  numerous  and  illustrious 
tribes  which  occupy  now  the  greatest  part  of 
Europe,  and  may,  perhaps,  alone  or  with  other 
families,  have  a  right  to  be  called  the  family  of 
Japhet.  I  mean  that  great  family  to  which 
the  Germanic  nations  belong,  as  well  as  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  the  Indians  and  Persians, 
the  Sclavonic  and  the  Celtic  tribes,  and  which 
are  now  generally  called  by  some  the  Indo- 
Germanic,  by  others  the  Indo-European  na- 
tions." 

"  I  take  it  for  granted  that  the  facts  to  which 
I  allude  bear  out  the  consequence  I  deduce 
from  them  ;  I  mean,  the  assertion  that  the 
affinity  of  the  Egyptian  forms  and  roots  with 
those  of  the  Semitic  and  Indo-Germanic  lan- 
guages, is  one  which  can  no  more  be  explained 
by  the  general  similarity  existing,  or  supposed 


226  COMMON     PARENTAGE    OF 

to  exist  between  different  languages,  than 
that  between  German  and  Scandinavian,  be- 
tween Greek  and  Roman,  between  Gothic  and 
Sanscrit,  which  is  disputed  by  nobody  who  has  a 
right  to  speak  on  these  subjects.  I  glor}^  in  be- 
longing to  a  school  which  rejects  altogether 
those  etymological  dreams  and  conjectures, 
those  loose  comparisons  of  languages,  or  rather 
of  words,  caught  at  random,  which  made  the 
etymologies  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
laughing-stock  of  the  eighteenth.  By  its  ver}'- 
principle,  the  critical  school  admits  of  no  claim 
to  historical  affinity  between  different  lan- 
guages, unless  this  affinity  be  shown  to  rest 
upon  deffiiite  laws,  upon  substantial  analogy, 
established  by  a  complete  examination  of  the 
materials.  That  school  demands  the  strictest 
iwoof  that  these  affinities  are  neither  accidental 
tior  merely  ideal,  but  essential ;  that  they  are  7iot 
the  work  of  extraneous  intrusion,  but  ifidigenous, 
as  running  through  the  whole  original  texture  of 
the  languages,  compared  accordirig  to  a  traceable 
rule  of  analogy.  The  very  method  of  this  criti- 
cal school  excludes  the  possibility  of  accideiital  oi 


T  11  K    HUMAN    RACES.  227 

mere  ideal  analogies  being  taken  for  proofs  of  a 
common  historical  descent  of  different  tribes  or 
nations  y 

"It  was  Lepsius  who,  in  his  most  acute 
essay,  '  On  the  Egyptian  Numerals,'  first  show- 
ed the  deeply-rooted  radical  analogy  which  the 
ancient  roots  of  the  language  of  Egypt  bear  on 
the  one  side  to  the  Indo-Germanic  family,  on 
the  other  to  the  Semitic." 

This  is  the  identical  Lepsius  with  whom  the 
authors  of  "Types  of  Mankind"  corresponded 
by  letter,  and  on  whose  name  they  continually 
ring  the  changes,  whenever  they  wish  to  ex- 
hibit his  views  on  Egyptian  chronology  in  con- 
trast with  the  Hebrew  chronology  as  interpreted 
by  Usher,  Hales,  etc.  Well  may  Bunsen  add  : 
"  That  the  strict  historical  connection  be- 
tween the  language  of  Egypt  and  those  of  the 
Semitic  and  Iranian  tribes  is  no  longer  a  matter 
of  controversy  among  those  who  have  studied 
these  languages  according  to  the  principles  of 
the  critical  school." 

"The  theories  about  the   origin  of  language 
have  followed  those  about  the  origin  of  thought, 


228  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

and  have  shared  their  fate.  The  materiahsts 
have  never  been  able  to  show  the  possibiHty  of 
the  first  step.  They  attempt  to  veil  their  ina- 
bility by  the  easy  but  fruitless  assumption  of  an 
infinite  space  of  time,  destined  to  explain  the 
gradual  development  of  animals  into  men  ;  as 
if  millions  of  years  could  supply  the  want  of 
the  agent  necessary  for  the  first  movement,  for 
the  first  step  in  the  line  of  progress  !  No  nuna- 
bers  can  effect  a  logical  impossibility.  How, 
indeed,  could  reason  spring  out  of  a  state 
which  is  destitute  of  reason  ?  How  can  speech, 
the  expression  of  thought,  develop  itself  in  a 
year,  or  in  millions  of  years,  out  of  unarticu- 
lated  sounds,  which  express  feelings  of  pleasure, 
pain,  and  appetite  ?" 

"  We  disclaim  the  savage  as  the  prototype  of 
natural,  original  man.  For  linguistic  inquiry 
shows  that  the  languages  of  savages  are  de- 
graded, decaying  fragments  of  nobler  forma- 
tions. The  language  of  the  Bushman  is  a  de- 
graded Hottentot  language,  and  this  language 
is  likely  to  be  only  a  depravation  of  the  noble 
Kafre  tongue." 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  229 

In  a  well-coiisidered  train  of  reflection,  he 
points  out  the  ahnost  inevitable  consequences 
of  an  original  diversity  of  languages,  and  con- 
trasting this  imaginary  state  with  the  actual 
facts  as  exhibited  by  the  results  of  researches 
in  comparative  philology,  argues  with  irresisti- 
ble force  against  the  theory  of  any  such  original 
diversity. 

"  On  the  supposition  of  this  original  diversi- 
ty, the  different  languages,  however  analogous 
they  might  be  as  the  produce  of  the  working  of 
the  same  human  mind  on  the  same  outward 
world  by  the  same  organic  means,  would  never- 
theless offer  scarcely  any  affinity  to  each  other  in 
the  skill  displayed  in  their  formation,  and  in  the 
mode  of  it ;  but  their  very  roots,  full  or  empty 
ones,  and  all  their  words,  must  needs  be  en- 
tirely different.  There  may  be  some  similar 
expressions  in  those  inarticulate  bursts  of  feel- 
ings, not  reacted  upon  by  the  mind,  which  the 
grammarians  call  interjections.  There  are,  be- 
sides, some  graphic  imitations  of  external 
sounds,  called  onaniatopoetica,  words  the  forma- 
tion of  which  indicates  the  relatively  greatest 


230  COMMON     PARENTAGE    OF 

passivity  of  the  mind.  There  may  be,  besides, 
some  casual  coincidences  in  real  words  ;  but 
the  law  of  combination  applied  to  the  elements 
of  sound  gives  a  mathematical  proof  that,  with 
all  allowances,  that  chance  is  less  than  one  in  a 
million  for  the  same  combination  of  sounds  sig- 
nifying the  same  precise  object.'^  .  .  .  Now, 
referring  to  what  we  have  alread}'  stated,  as  the 
result  of  the  most  accurate  linguistic  inquiries, 
such  a  coincidence  does  exist  between  three 
great  families,  spreading  from  the  north  of  Eu- 
rope to  the  tropic  lands  of  Asia  and  Africa.     It 

*  Dr.  Young  applied  the  mathematical  test  of  the  calculus  of  proba- 
bilities to  the  inquiry,  "what  number  of  words  found  to  resemble  one 
another  in  different  languages  will  warrant  our  concluding  them  to  be 
of  common  origin?''  and  arrived  at  the  following  results:  "Nothing 
whatever  can  be  inferred  with  respect  to  tlie  relation  of  any  two  lan- 
guages, from  ihe  coincidence  of  sense  of  any  single  word  in  both  of 
them :  the  odds  would  be  three  to  one  against  the  agreement  of  any  two 
words;  but  if  three  words  appear  to  be  identical,  it  would  be  then 
more  than  ten  to  one  that  they  must  be  derived  in  both  cases  from  some 
parent  language,  or  introduced  in  some  other  way :  six  words  would 
give  more  than  seventeen  hundred  chances  to  one,  and  eight,  near  one 
hundred  thousand;  so  that,  in  these  cases  the  evidence  would  be  little 
short  of  absolute  certainty.  In  this  way  conclusive  evidence  has  been 
furnished  that  the  family  of  American  languages  has  had  a  common 
origin  with  those  of  Asia.  A  lexical  comparison  has  established  an 
identity  in  one  hundred  and  seventy  words,  although  this  study  is  yet 
in  its  infancy ;  and  this,  relying  on  the  correctness  of  V-r.  Young's 
mathematical  calculation,  is  an  argument  which  cannot  bo  controvert 
ed."     (SuYTif.     Unity  of  the  Human  Races.) 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  231 

there  exists  not  only  in  radical  words,  but  even 
in  what  must  appear  as  the  work  of  an  exclu- 
sively peculiar  coinage,  the  formative  words  and 
inflexions  which  pervade  the  whole  structure  of 
certain  families  of  languages,  and  are  inter- 
woven, as  it  were,  with  every  sentence  pro- 
nounced in  every  one  of  their  branches.  All 
the  nations  which  from  the  dawn  of  history  to  our 
days  have  been  the  leaders  of  civilization  in  Asia, 
Europe,  and  Africa,  must  consequently  have  had 
one  beginning.  This  is  the  chief  lesson  which  the 
hnowledge  of  the  Egyptian  language  teaches  ^ 

In  the  concluding  paragraphs  of  this  interest- 
ing Report,  the  learned  author  makes  a  brief 
reference  to  the  difficult  problem  presented  by 
the  Chinese  language  ;  and  after  announcing 
his  unhesitating  belief  in  the  existence  of  a 
primitive  connection  between  that  and  other 
formations,  ends  with  these  words  : 

"  We  flatter  ourselves  that  we  have  made 
good  our  assertion,  that  Egyptologic  discoveries 
are  most  intimately  connected  with  the  great 
question  of  the  primeval  language  and  civiliza- 
tion of  mankind,  both  in  Asia  and  Africa,  and 


232  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

that  the}'  give  a  considerable  support  to  the 
opinion  of  the  high,  but  not  indefinite  antiquity 
of  human  history,  and  to  the  hypothesis  of  the 
original  unity  of  mankind,  and  of  a  common 
origin  of  all  the  languages  of  the  globe." 

The  reader  cannot  have  failed  to  observe  with 
what  caution  and  care  the  conclusions  of  Bun- 
sen  have  been  formed,  and  how,  whenever  there 
is  the  least  room  for  doubt,  he  hesitates  to  dog- 
matize. Since  the  date  of  the  paper  from  which 
the  above  extracts  are  taken,  considerable  prog- 
ress has  been  made  towards  a  satisfactory  dem- 
onstration of  points  in  regard  to  which  a  more 
or  less  probable  statement  onl_y  could  then  be 
made.  For  example,  Bunsen,  availing  himself 
of  the  elaborate  analysis  by  Miiller  of  the  "Tu- 
ranian" languages,  by  means  of  which  analysis 
all  these  dialects  had  been  found  "to  converge 
toward  the  same  centre  of  life,"  has  been  ena- 
bled to  bring  the  languages  of  the  JN'orth  Amer- 
ican Indians  into  the  same  category.  "The 
linguistic  data,"  he  says,  "thus  furnished,  com- 
bined with  the  traditions  and  customs,  and  pai"- 
ticularly  with  the   system    of  mnemonics  (first 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  233 

revealed  in  Schoolcraft's  work),  enable  me  to 
say  that  the  Asiatic  origin  of  all  these  tribes  is 
as  fully  proved  as  the  unity  of  family  among 
themselves." 

The  unity  thus  made  out  for  all  the  families 
of  the  earth,  "is  not  simply  a  physical,  external 
one  ;  it  is  that  of  thought,  wisdom,  arts, science, 
and  civilization.  By  facts  still  more  conclusive 
than  the  succession  of  strata  in  geology,  com- 
parative philolog}^  proves  what  our  religious 
records  postulate,  that  the  civilization  of  man- 
kind is  not  a  patchwork  of  incoherent  frag- 
ments, not  an  inorganic  complex  of  various 
courses  of  development,  starting  from  numerous 
beginnings,  flowing  in  isolated  beds,  and  des- 
tined only  to  disappear  in  order  to  make  room 
for  other  tribes  running  the  same  course  in  mo- 
notonous rotation.  Far  beyond  all  other  docu- 
ments, there  is  preserved  in  language  that  sa- 
cred tradition  of  primeval  thought  and  art  which 
connects  all  the  historical  families  of  mankind, 
not  only  as  brethren  by  descent,  but  each  as  the 
depository  of  a  phasis  of  one  and  the  same  de- 
velopment." * 

*  Bunsen's  '•  Christianity  and  Mankind."     Vol.  IV..  p.  12G. 


234  THE     HUMAN     RACES. 

We  have  thouoht  it  best,  in  the  discussion  of 
the  philological  aspect  of  the  general  subject, 
to  let  philologists  speak  for  themselves,  instead 
of  running  the  risk  of  marring  the  argument 
by  an  analysis  of  our  own,  especially  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  the  papers  of  Dr.  Prichard  and  the 
Chevalier  Bunsen,  from  which  our  principal  ex- 
tracts are  taken,  presented  a  perspicuous  and  at 
the  same  time  a  popular  exposition  of  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  argument  should  be  based, 
and  that  too  in  so  compendious  form  as  to  pre- 
clude abridgment,  except  in  the  way  of  selecting 
extracts. 


CHAPTER   III. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  COMMON  PARENTAGE 
OP  THE  HUMAN  RACES  CONSIDERED. 

§1- 

Difficulties  connected  with  the  actual  Geographical  Dis- 
tribution of  the  Races. 

Having  shown  the  insufficiency  of  Prof.  Agas- 
siz'  arguments  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  dis- 
tinct origins  for  the  typical  races  of  men,  and 
having  in  the  last  chapter  indicated  the  striking 
significance  of  facts  derived  fi'om  comparative 
philology  in  proof  of  the  counter  hypothesis 
of  a  common  parentage  for  all  human  tongues 
and  races,  we  now  propose  to  consider  some 
of  the  popular  objections  occasionally  raised 
against  this  latter  doctrine. 

The  first  of  these  to  which  we  shall  direct  our 
attention  has  reference  to  the  existing  geograph- 
ical distribution  of  the  races,  and  the  adapta- 
tion of  each  indigenous  race  to  its  climate  and 
country.     It  is  held  by  some  to  be  inconceiv- 

[235] 


236  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

able  that  human  beings  born  in  genial  climes 
should  have  found  any  adequate  inducement  to 
select  for  their  permanent  home  the  inhospitable 
regions  of  the  frigid  zone,  or  the  pestiferous 
soil  of  tropical  Africa.  It  \vas  considered 
equally  improbable  that  men  ignorant  of  the 
art  of  navigation  should  have  braved  the  dan- 
gers of  the  ocean  and  have  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing the  shores  of  America,  Australia,  and  the 
numerous  and  widely-separated  islands  of  the 
Pacific.  We  propose  to  set  aside  these  objec- 
tions to  the  time-honored  doctrine  of  our  fa- 
thers   respecting  the  single  origin  of  our  race. 

We  have  already  shown  that  observant  nat- 
uralists have  succeeded,  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent, in  elucidating  the  laws  regulating  the  vari- 
ations undergone  by  species  which  are  very 
widely  distributed,  and  which  for  this  very  rea- 
son are  subjected  to  a  great  variety  of  external 
influences.  Setting  aside  the  human  races, 
"  the  best  authenticated  examples  of  the  extent 
to  which  species  can  be  made  to  vary  may  be 
looked  for  in  the  history  of  domesticated 
animals  and  cultivated  plants.     It  usually  hap- 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  237 

pens  that  those  species,  both  of  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdom,  which  have  the  greatest 
pliabiUty  of  organization,  those  which  are  most 
capable  of  accommodatnig  themselves  to  a  great 
variety  of  new  circumstances,  are  most  service- 
able to  man.  These  only  can  be  carried  by  him 
into  different  climates,  and  can  have  their 
properties  or  instincts  variously  diversified  by 
differences  of  nourishment  and  habits."'* 

Now  we  contend  that  the  undoubted  power 
possessed  by  the  various  races  of  men  and  by 
the  domesticated  animals  to  undergo  acclima- 
tion in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  not  only 
indicates  the  possibility  that  the  former  may 
have  sprung  from  a  common  origin,  but,  apart 
from  all  other  considerations,  furnishes  a  strong 
presumption  in  favor  of  this  conclusion.  For, 
as  our  readers  will  doubtless  have  inferred  from 
the  remarks  of  Lyell  in  the  foregoing  extract, 
it  is  contrary  to  the  usual  course  of  nature  to 
multiply  congeneric  species,  among  the  higher 
animal  classes,  in  adaptation  to  var^dng  exter- 
nal conditions,  when  a  single  species  is  endowed 

■"- Lyell's  Principles  jfGeologj-.     8th  ed.     London.  1850.    P.  561. 


238  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

with  a  latitude   of  accommoclaiioii   to  circum- 
stances. 

This  view,  as  bearing  upon  the  history  of 
man's  dispersion  from  his  original  birthplace, 
is  strengthened  by  the  remarkable  fact  that  the 
country  usually  regarded  as  the  seat  of  man's 
creation,  and  consequently  as  the  centre  whence 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  have  radiated,  is 
also  "  the  native  country  of  nearly  all  the  grains, 
vegetables,  fruits,  and  animals  which  have  been 
transported  b}'  man  in  his  wide  migrations,  and 
have  supplied  him  with  the  comforts  and  luxu- 
ries of  life.  It  is  the  native  country  of  rice, 
wheat,  pulse,  and  the  vine,  now  everywhere  in 
common  use.  There,  also,  nearly  all  the  ani- 
mals are  found  in  a  wild  state  which  have  been 
domesticated,  and  all  but  the  camel  have  been 
carried  with  him  over  the  whole  inhabitable 
world.  These  animals  are  the  ass,  goat,  sheep, 
cow,  horse,  pig,  dog,  cat,  etc.  Those  that  were 
subsequently  domesticated  were  from  other 
countries,  and  their  origin  can  be  traced  with- 
out difficult3^''* 

*  J.  Bachman,  D.  D.      On  the  Unity  of  the  Human  Race,  etc. 
Cbarlcston,  1850,  p.  171. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  239 

It  has  been  alleged,  however,  that  the  na- 
tives of  tropical  and  Arctic  countries  could  not 
exchange  residences  without  mutual  destruc- 
tion. We  reply,  that  it  will  depend  on  the  de- 
gree of  caution  which  is  observed  in  undergo- 
ing gradual  acclimatization.  It  is  freely  admit- 
ted that  neither  man  nor  his  faithful  companions, 
enjoying  a  like  latitude  of  accommodation  to 
varying  external  circumstances,  could  be  safely 
transported  at  once  from  one  climate  to  its  op- 
posite extreme.  We  have  adverted  in  another 
connection  to  the  gradual  acclimatization,  recjuir- 
ing  more  than  one  generation  for  its  accomplish- 
ment, that  took  place  among  the  dogs  carried 
from  England  into  the  attenuated  atmosphere 
of  the  high  table-land  of  Mexico.  A  case  still 
more  in  point  is  mentioned  by  Dr.  Bachman, 
who  says  : 

"  We  believe  we  were  the  first  to  attempt  to 
introduce  what  is  called  the  Muscovy  duck  into 
the  northern  part  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
These,  birds  which  we  had  received  from  the 
south,  were  so  sensitive  to  cold,  being  natives 
of  Brazil,   that  several   were   frozen   to   death 


240  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

during  the  first  winter,  and  the  remainder  were 
preserved  in  a  warm  room  ;  their  successors, 
however,  after  the  third  generation,  were  con- 
stitutionahy  enabled  to  hve  in  the  pouhry-yard 
during  the  coldest  winters.  The  red  fox  is 
possessed  of  a  decidedly  northern  constitution, 
being  found  within  the  Arctic  circle.  About 
forty  years  ago  his  farthest  southern  limit  was 
Pennsylvania.  A  wealth}^  gentleman  residing 
on  John's  island,  near  Charleston,  imported,  a 
few  years  ago,  from  New  York,  a  number  of 
these  foxes,  and  turned  them  loose  on  the 
island,  where  there  was  an  abundance  of  food, 
and  where  they  were  left  unmolested  ;  the 
transition,  however,  was  too  sudden  for  their 
northern  constitutions  ;  they  scarcely  multiplied, 
and  in  a  few  years  disappeared,  hi  the  mean- 
time, however',  a  more  riatural  migration  and  ac- 
climatization was  in  progress.  The  red  fox  made 
its  appearance  in  the  more  elevated  parts  of  Vir- 
ginia; there  it  multiplied  so  rapidly  that  it  has 
in  certain  localities  become  more  common  than  the 
grey  fox.  The  migrations  towards  the  South 
co7itinued   with    increasing    and    unaccountable 


V^       or  THE 
THE     HUMAN    ^  A  C  e|U  ]^  J  7  ^J,  S  H 

rapidity.  It  was  soon  after  fou'm^^l.  North 
Carolina,  then  in  South  Carolina,  and  ive  ascer- 
tained, on  a  visit  to  Georgia  last  summer,  that  it 
was  multiphjing  rapidly,  not  only  in  the  higher 
hut  middle  portions  of  that  State. ''^'^ 

In  the  same  manner  the  grey  fox,  Vulpes  vir- 
giniamis,  which  is  a  southern  species,  has  been 
slowly  migrating  northward,  until  now  it  is 
found  in  the  Canadas. 

Why  human  beings  should  have  ever  directed 
their  wanderings  to  the  regions  of  perpetual 
winter,  we  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  inquire. 
We  will,  however,  venture  to  remark  that,  since 
the  plan  of  God's  wise  providence  has  included 
the  partial  occupation  by  man  of  these  inhospi- 
table climes,  there  is  no  more  difficulty  in  con- 
ceiving that  He  may  have  effected  this  by  dis- 
posing a  portion  of  His  rational  creatures  to 
select  such  a  home  than  there  would  be  in  rec- 
ognizing His  power  to  create  a  distinct  "type" 
of  mankind  as  an  autochthon  of  the  soil.  In- 
deed, the  difficulty  is  far  less  ;  since  the  former 
supposition  accords  with  the  ordinary  modes  of 

*  J.  Bachman.     Op.  cit.,  p.  274. 
11 


242  COM  M  O  N     PARENTAGE    OF 

God's  providential  action  with  respect  to  His 
rational  creatures,  while  the  counter  hypothesis 
involves  the  idea  of  an  apparently  needless  re- 
petition of  the  stupendous  miracle  of  creation. 
We  cannot,  therefore,  but  be  surprised  that  any 
well-informed  naturalist  should  cite  the  case  of 
the  Esquimaux  natives  of  the  Arctic  realm  being- 
able  to  stand  out  with  uncovered  heads  in  the 
open  air,  as  a  proof  that  the  race  was  created 
in  that  region.  Nor  does  the  other  difficulty, 
which  has  been  referred  to,  give  us  any  serious 
embarrassment.  In  the  absence  of  all  historical 
records  of  the  early  migrations  of  the  human 
family  we  can  hope  to  show  only  how  the  dis- 
persion from  a  single  centre  may  have  taken 
place.  The  general  question  of  the  possibility 
of  such  a  dispersion  has  been  treated  with  mas- 
terly ability  by  Lyell,  while  Pickering,  School- 
craft, Lieut.  Maury,  and  others,  have  exhibited 
special  facts  bearing  on  the  question  of  the  ori- 
gin of  the  aborigines  of  our  continent,  and  the 
route  by  which  they  accomplished  their  transit 
from  the  Eastern  to  the  Western  World, — a  ques- 
tion presenting,  we  may  observe,  quite  as  much 


THE     HUM  A  N    RACES.  243 

di{Ii(  iilty  as  that  which  relert;  to  the  origin  of 
any  other  people  on  the  globe. 

"  In  an  early  stage  of  society,"  says  Lyell, 
"  the  necessity  of  hunting  acts  as  a  principle  of 
repulsion,  causing  men  to  spread  with  the 
greatest  rapidity  over  a  country,  until  the 
whole  is  covered  with  scattered  settlements. 
It  has  been  calculated  that  eight  hundred 
acres  of  hunting-ground  produce  only  as  much 
food  as  half  an  acre  of  arable  land.  When 
the  game  has  been  in  a  great  measure  ex- 
hausted, and  a  state  of  pasturage  succeeds, 
the  several  hunter  tribes,  being  already  scat- 
tered, may  multiply  in  a  short  time  into  the 
greatest  number  which  the  pastoral  state  is  ca- 
pable of  sustaining.  The  necessity,  says  Brand, 
thus  imposed  upon  the  savage  states,  of  dis- 
persing themselves  far  and  wide  over  the 
country,  affords  a  reason  why,  at  a  very  early 
period,  the  worst  parts  of  the  earth  may  have 
been  inhabited."* 

Having  thus  indicated  the  probable  deter- 
mining cause  of  man's  early  migrations,  and  the 

♦  Lyell.     Op.  cit.,  p.  398. 


244  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

process  by  which  they  were  effected,  in  as  far 
as  regards  the  peopling  of  a  continuous  conti- 
nent, he  proceeds  to  point  out  the  methods  by 
means  of  which  isolated  islands  and  distant 
continents  may  have  been  reached  by  wander- 
ing tribes  : 

Cook,  Forster,  and  others,  have  remarked 
that  parties  of  savages  in  their  canoes  must 
have  often  lost  their  way,  and  must  have  been 
driven  on  distant  shores,  where  thev  were  fore- 
ed  to  remain,  deprived  both  of  the  means  and 
of  the  requisite  intelligence  for  returning  to 
their  own  country.  Thus  Captain  Cook  found, 
on  the  island  of  Wateoo,  three  inhabitants  of 
Otaheite,  who  had  been  drifted  thither  in  a  ca- 
noe, although  the  distance  between  the  two 
isles  is  550  miles.  In  1696,  two  canoes,  con- 
taining thirty  persons,  who  had  left  Ancorso, 
were  thrown  by  contrary  winds  and  storms  or. 
the  island  of  Samar,  one  of  the  Philippines,  at  a 
distance  of  800  miles.  In  1721,  two  canoes, 
one  of  which  contained  twenty-four,  and  the 
other  six  persons,  men,  women,  and  children, 
were  drifted  from  an  island   called  Farroilep  to 


THE    HUMAN     RACES.  245 

the  island  of  Guaham,  one  of  the  Marians,  a 
distance  of  200  miles. 

"  Kotzebue,  when  investigating  the  Coral 
Tsles  of  Radack,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
Caroline  Isles,  become  acquainted  with  a  per- 
son of  the  name  of  Kadu,  who  was  a  native  of 
Ulea,  an  isle  1500  miles  distant,  from  which  he 
had  been  drifted  with  a  party.  They  drifted 
about  the  open  sea  for  eight  months,  according 
to  their  reckoning  by  the  moon,  making  a  knot 
on  a  cord  at  every  new  moon.  Being  expert  fish- 
ermen, they  subsisted  entirely  on  the  produce  of 
the  sea  ;  and  when  the  rain  fell,  laid  in  as  much 
fresh  water  as  they  had  vessels   to  contain  it." 

After  detailing  other  well-authenticated  facts 
of  a  similar  character,  Sir  Charles  Lyell  pro- 
ceeds to  say : 

"The  space  traversed  in  some  of  these  in- 
stances   was    so    great,    that   similar  accidents 

might  suffice  to  transport  canoes  from  various 
parts  of  Africa  to  the  shores  of  South  America, 
or  from  Spain  to  the  Azores,  and  thence  to 
North  America  ;  so  that  man,  even  in  a  rude 
state  of  societv,  is  liable  to  be  scattered   invol- 


246  COMMON    P  A  R  E  N  T^V  G  E    OF 

Lintarily  by  the  winds  and  waves  over  the  globe, 
in  a  manner  singularly  analogous  to  that  in 
which  many  plants  and  animals  are  diffused.  We 
ought  not,  then,  to  wonder  that,  during  the  ages 
required  for  some  tribes  of  the  human  family  to 
attain  that  advanced  stage  of  civilization  which 
empowers  the  navigator  to  cross  the  ocean  in  all 
directions  with  security,  the  whole  earth  should 
have  become  the  abode  of  rude  tribes  of  hun- 
ters and  fishers.  Were  the  whole  of  mankind 
now  cut  off,  with  the  exception  of  one  family,  in- 
habiting the  old  or  neiv  continent,  or  Australia, 
or  even  some  coral  islet  of  the  Pacifc,  we  might 
expect  their  descendants,  though  they  should  never 
become  more  enlightened  than  the  South-sea  Is- 
landers or  the  Esquimaux,  to  spread  in  the 
course  of  ages  over  the  whole  earth,  diffused,  partly 
by  the  tendency  of  population  to  increase,  in  a 
limited  district,  beijond  the  means  of  subsistence, 
and  partly  by  the  accidental  drifting  of  canoes, 
by  tides  and  currents  to  distant  shores P 

This  conclusion,  it  will  be  observed,  is  the 
result  of  a  rigid  induction  from  undeniable  facts, 
which    were   not    collected    with    the   view   of 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  247 

strengthening  opinions  previously  adopted  as  a 
h.  matter  of  religious  faith  ;  for,  as  is  well  known, 
Sir  Charles  Lyell  does  not  recognize  the  au- 
thority of  tlie  Bible  in  matters  of  science. 

The  recent  testimony  of  Lieut.  Maury  is 
strongly  corroborative  of  the  views  of  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  indi- 
cates the  probable  origin  of  our  American  In- 
dians, and  the  route  by  which,  drifting  east- 
ward, they  reached  this  western  continent. 
The  testimony  is  found  in  the  replies  of  Lieut. 
Maury  to  a  series  of  questions  addressed  to  him 
by  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  who  introduces  them  in 
his  magnificent  work,  with  the  following  ex- 
planatory remarks  : 

"The  tradition  of  the  origin  of  the  empire 
(the  old  Mexican)  in  bands  of  adventurers  from 
the 'Seven  Caves,' rests  upon  the  best  author- 
ity we  hare  of  the  Toltec  race,  supported  by 
by  the  oral  opinion  of  the  Aztecs  in  1519.*  An 
examination  of  it  by  the  hghts  of  modern  geo- 

*  See  Report  of  the  British  Scientific  Association— Dublin  Meeting, 
1837.  Paper  by  Rear  Admiral  Fitz  Roy,  p.  130.— '■  all  aboriginal 
tribes  have  been  found  by  travellers  and  the  learned  to  derive  their  ori- 
gui  more  or  less  directly  from  Central  Asia." 


248  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

graphy,  in  connection  with  the  nautical  theory  of 
oceanic  currents  and  the  fixed  courses  of  the 
winds  in  the  Pacific,  gives  strong  testimony  in 
favor  of  an  early  expressed  opinion  in  supjDort 
of  a  migration  in  high  latitudes.  It  is  now 
considered  probable  that  those  caves  were 
seated  in  the  Aleutian  chain  of  islands.  This 
chain  connects  the  continent  of  Asia  and  Amer- 
ica at  the  most  practicable  points  ;  and  it  be- 
gins precisely  opposite  to  that  part  of  the 
Asiatic  coast  north-east  of  the  Chinese  Empire, 
and  quite  above  the  Japanese  group,  where  we 
should  expect  the  Mongolic  and  Tata  hordes  to 
have  been  precipitated  upon  those  shores.  On 
the  American  side  of  the  trajet,  extending 
south  of  the  Peninsula  of  Onalasca,  there  is 
evidence,  in  the  existing  dialects  of  the  tribes, 
of  their  being  of  the  same  generic'group  with 
the  Toltec  stock.  By  the  data  brought  to  light 
by  Mr.  Hale,  the  Ethnographer  to  the  United 
States  Exploring  Expedition  under  Captain 
Wilkes,  and  from  other  reliable  sources,  the 
philological  proof  is  made  to  be  quite  apparent. 
The  peculiar  Aztec  termination  of  substantives 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  249 

in  tl^  which  was  noticed  at  Nootka  sound,  and 
which  will  be  found  in  the  specimens  of  the 
languages  of  Oregon,  furnished  by  Mr.  Wyeth, 
are  too  indicative,  in  connection  with  other  re- 
semblances in  sound,  and  in  principles  of  con- 
struction, noticed  by  Mr.  Hale,  to  be  disre- 
garded. .  .  .  Lieut.  Colonel  Charles 
Hamilton  Smith,  of  Edinburgh,  appears  to 
have  been  the  first  observer  to  throw  out  the 
idea  of  the  Chichimecs,  a  rude  Mexican  people 
of  the  Toltecan  lineage,  having  migrated  from 
this  quarter,  taking,  however,  the  word  '  caves' 
to  be  a  figure  denoting  a  vessel,  catamaran,  or 
canoe  ;  and  not  employing  it  in  a  literal  sense. 
Lieut.  Maury,  U.  S.  N".,  the  chief  director  of  the 
American  Nautical  Observatory  at  Washington, 
to  whom  I  transmitted  the  work,  with  particu- 
lar reference  to  this  chapter,  puts  a  more  literal 
construction  on  the  tradition  of  Quetzalcoatl 
(respecting  the  adventurers  from  the  Seven 
Caves),  and  brings  to  bear  an  amount  of  mod- 
ern observation  on  the  point  which  it  would  be 
unjust  to  withhold  from  the  reader." 

We  give  such  extracts  only,  from  Mr.  Maury's 


250  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

letter,  as  bear  specifically  upon  the  question 
under  consideration. 

"Colonel  Smith  had  a  stronger  case  than  he 
imagined.  Referring  to  the  Chichimec  legend 
of  the  Seven  '  Caves,'  he  conjectures  that  the 
Chichimecs  might  originally  have  been  Aleu- 
tians, and  that  '  Caves,''  if  not  denoting  islands, 
might  have  referred  to  canoes. 

"  The  Aleutians  of  the  present  day  actually 
live  in  caves  or  subterranean  apartments,  which 
they  enter  through  a  hole  in  the  top. 

'■  Those  islands  grow  no  wood.  For  their 
canoes,  fishing  implements,  and  cave-\io\(\.  uten- 
sils, the  natives  depend  upon  the  drift-wood 
which  is  cast  ashore,  much  of  which  is  camphor 
wood.  And  this,  you  observe,  is  another  link 
in  the  chain — which  is  growing  quite  strong — 
of  evidence  which  for  years  I  have  been  seek- 
ing, in  confirmation  of  a  "gulf-stream'  near 
there,  and  which  runs  from  the  shores  of  China 
over  towards  our  north-west  coast.  .  .  .  I'll 
answer  as  best  I  can  your  several  interroga- 
tories. 1st.  You  wish  me  to  state  whether,  in 
my  opinion,  the  Pacific  and  Polynesian  waters 


THE     HUMAN    RACES.  251 

could  have  been  navigated  in  early  times — sup- 
posing the  winds  had  been  then  as  they  now 
are — in  balsas,  floats,  and  other  rude  vessels  of 
early  ages. 

"  Yes  ;  if  you  had  a  supply  of  provisions, 
you  could  '  run  down  the  trades '  in  the  Pacific 
on  a  log.  There  is  no  part  of  the  world  where 
nature  would  tempt  a  savage  man  more  strong- 
ly to  launch  out  upon  the  open  sea  with  his 
bark,  however  frail.  Most  of  those  islands  are 
surrounded  by  coral  reefs,  between  which  and 
the  shore  the  water  is  as  smooth  as  a  mill-pond. 

"  In  reply  to  your  second  question,  as  to  the 
possibihty  of  long  voyages  before  the  invention 
of  the  compass,  I  answer,  that  such  chance 
voyages  were  not  only  possible,  but  more  than 
probable.  When  we  take  into  consideration 
the  position  of  North  America  with  regard  to 
Asia,  of  New  Holland  with  regard  to  Africa, 
with  the  winds  and  currents  of  the  ocean,  it 
would  have  been  more  remarkable  that  America 
should  not  have  been  peopled  from  Asia,  or 
New  Holland  from  Africa,  than  that  they 
should  have  been.     Captain  Ray,  of  the  whale- 


252  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

ship  Superior,  fished  two  years  ago  in  Behring's 
Straits.  He  saw  canoes,  going  from  one  conti- 
nent to  the  other. 

"  Besides  this  channel,  there  is  the  '  gulf- 
stream,'  like  the  current  already  alluded  to, 
from  the  shores  of  China.  Along  its  course 
westerly  winds  are  the  prevailing  winds  ;  and 
we  have  well-authenticated  instances  in  which 
these  two  agents  have  brought  Japanese  mari- 
ners in  disabled  vessels  over  to  the  coast  of 
America. 

"  Now  look  at  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  see 
what  an  immense  surface  of  water  is  exposed 
there  to  the  heat  of  the  torrid  zone,  without 
any  escape  for  it,  as  it  becomes  expanded,  but 
to  the  south.  Accordingly,  we  have  here  the 
genesis  of  another  '  gulf-stream  '  which  runs 
along  the  east  coast  of  Africa.  The  physical 
causes  at  work,  were  there  not  some  such  as 
the  form  of  the  bottom,  the  configuration  of 
the  land,  opposing  currents  of  cold  water,  etc.. 
would  give  the  whole  of  this  current  a  south- 
easterly direction.  We  know  tliat  a  part  of  it, 
however,   comes  into   tlio   Atlantic  by  what  is 


T  PI  E    HUMAN    RACES.  253 

called  the  Lagullas  current.  The  whales, 
whose  habits  of  migration,  etc.,  I  am  investigat- 
ing, indicate  clearly  enough  the  presence  of  a 
large  body  of  warm  water  to  the  south  of  New 
Holland.  This  is  where  the  gulf-stream  from 
the  Indian  Ocean  ought  to  be  ;  and  there  I 
confidently  expect,  when  I  come  to  go  into  that 
part  of  the  ocean  with  the  thermometer,  as  we 
are  preparing  to  do  with  our  thermal  charts,  to 
find  a  warm  current  coming  down  from  Mada- 
gascar and  the  coast  of  Africa.  There  was, 
then,  in  the  early  days,  the  Island  of  Madagas- 
car to  invite  the  African  out  with  his  canoe,  his 
raft,  or  more  substantial  vessel.  There  was 
this  current  to  bear  him  along  at  first  at  the 
rate  of  nearl}',  if  not  quite,  one  hundred  miles 
a  day,  and  by  the  time  the  current  began  to 
grow  weak,  it  would  have  borne  him  into  the 
regions  of  westerly  winds,  which,  with  the  aid 
of  the  current,  would  finally  waft  him  over  to 
the  southern  shores  of  New  Holland.  Increas- 
ing and  multipl}'ing  here,  he  would  travel  north 
to  meet  the  sun,  and  in  the  course  of  time  he 
would  extend  himself  over  to  the  other  islands. 


254  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

as  Papua  and  the  like.  If  I  recollect  aright, 
the  GallijDagos  Islands,  though  so  near  the 
coast  and  under  line,  with  a  fine  soil  and  cli- 
mate, were,  when  discovered,  uninhabited. 
Isow,  that  part  of  the  coast  near  which  they 
are,  is  peculiarly  liable  to  calms  and  baffling 
winds,  to  the  distance  out  to  sea  of  several 
hundred  miles  ;  there  was  no  current  to  drift 
nor  wind  to  blow  the  native  from  the  coast,  and 

lodge  him  here When  we  look  at 

the  Pacific,  its  islands,  the  winds  and  currents, 
and  consider  the  facilities  there  that  nature  has 
provided  for  drifting  savage  man  with  his  rude 
implements  of  navigation  about,  we  shall  see 
that  there  the  inducements  held  out  to  him  to 
try  the  sea  are  powerful.  With  the  bread-fruit 
and  the  cocoa-nut — man's  natural  barrels  there 
of  beef  and  bread — and  the  calabash,  his  natu- 
ral water-cask,  he  had  all  the  stores  for  a  long- 
voyage  already  at  hand.  You  will  thus  per- 
ceive the  rare  facilities  which  the  people  of 
those  shores  enjoyed  in  their  rude  state  for  at- 
tempting voyages."* 

*  Ilisloiy,  fonilition.  and  Prospects  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United 
States,  by  TI,  R.  Sciiooi.craft.  I-L.  D.     Part  I  ,  p.  26. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  255 

"Thus,"  says  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  "we  have 
traditionary  gleams  of  a  foreign  origin  of  the 
race  of  North  American  Indians  from  separate 
stocks  of  nations,  extending  at  intervals  from 
the  Arctic  Circle  to  the  Valley  of  Mexico.  Dim 
as  these  traditions  are,  they  shed  some  light  on 
the  thick  historical  darkness  which  shrouds  that 
period.  They  point  decidedly  to  a  foreign — to 
an  oriental,  if  not  a  Shemitic,  origin.  Such  an 
origin  has  from  the  first  been  inferred.  At 
whatever  point  the  investigation  has  been  made, 
the  eastern  hemisphere  has  been  found  to  con- 
tain the  physical  and  mental  prototypes  of  the 
race.  Language,  mythology,  religious  dogmas 
— the  very  style  of  architecture,  and  their  cal- 
endar, as  far  as  it  is  developed,  point  to  that 
fruitful  and  central  source  of  human  dispersion 
and  nationality. 

"It  is  no  necessary  consequence,  however, 
of  the  principles  of  dispersion,  that  it  should 
have  been  extended  to  this  continent  as  the 
result  of  regular  design.  Design  there  may  in- 
deed have  been.  Asia  and  Polynesia,  and  the 
Indian   Ocean,    have    abounded,    for   centuries, 


256  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

with  every  element  of  national  discord.  Pesti- 
lence or  predatory  wars  have  piislied  population 
over  the  broadest  districts  of  Persia.  India, 
China,  and  all  Asia  The  isles  of  the  sea  have 
been  the  nurseries  of  nations.  Half  the  globe 
has  been  settled  by  differences  of  temperature, 
oceanic  currents,  the  search  of  food,  thoughtless 
adventure,  or  other  forms  of  what  is  called 
mere  accident ;  and  not  proposed  migrations. 
All  these  are  so  many  of  the  ways  of  Provi- 
dence, b}^  which  not  onl}'-  the  tropical  and  tem- 
perate regions,  but  the  toi-rid  and  arctic  zones 
have  been  peopled.  He  must  have  read  history 
with  a  careless  eye,  who  has  not  perceived  the 
work  of  human  dispersion  to  have  been  pro- 
moted by  the  discords  of  various  races,  and  the 
meteorology  of  the  globe,  as  affecting  its  lead- 
ing currents  of  winds  and  waves.'** 

Precisely  similar  views  are  expressed  by  Dr. 
Pickering,  Ethnologist  to  the  United  States 
Exploring  Expedition,  who  appropriates  a 
chapter  of  his  work  on   the   "Races  of  Men, 

'^  History,  Condition,  and  Prospects   of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
United  States,  by  H.  R.  Schoolcraft.  LL.D.     I\irt  T..  pp.  22-2-±. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  257 

and  their  Geographical  Distribution,"  to  a 
somewhat  detailed  notice  of  "Migrations  by 
Sea."  One  section  of  this  chapter  is  headed, 
"  The  North  Pacific"  and  commences  with  these 
words  : 

"To  persons  living  around  the  Atlantic 
shores,  the  source  of  the  aboriginal  population 
of  America  seems  mysterious  ;  and  volumes 
have  been  written  upon  the  subject.  Had  the 
author ii  themselves  made  the  voyage  to  the  North 
Pacific,  I  cannot  hut  think  that  much  of  the  dis- 
cussion would  have  been  sparedP'^ 

Our  quotations  from  Schoolcraft  have  been 
extended  to  such  a  length  that  we  must  forego 
the  indulgence  of  a  desire  to  give  the  testimonj^ 
of  Dr.  Pickering  in  detail.  Let  it  suffice  to  say, 
that  he  concurs  in  the  opinions  of  Schoolcraft 
and  Maury  as  to  the  Eastern  origin  of  the 
American  Indians,  and  as  to  the  route  by  which 
thev  reached  this  continent  on  the  Pacific  coast. f 

*  Races  of  Men,  and  their  Geographical  Distribution,  by  C.  Picker- 
ing. Member  of  the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition.  Bohn's 
edition,  p.  296. 

f  Evidences  of  the  tempurarj'  sojourn  of  the  Aztecs  on  the  borders 
of  Lake  Superior  are  believed  to  have  been  lately  discovered,  in  local 
traditiiin.s,  and  especially  in  industrial  remains  disentombed  at  and  neaa- 


258  COMMON     PA  KENT  AGE    OF 

It  is  no  disparagement  of  the  high  renown 
of  Prof.  Agassiz  as  a  naturahst  to  say  that,  on 
such  a  question,  the  value  of  his  opinions  must 
be  held  to  be  subordinate  to  those  of  thought- 
ful travellers,  who,  having  the  other  qualifica- 
tions, have  also  made  "  the  voyage  to  the  North 
Pacific,"  and  have  thus  become  cognizant,  by 
personal  observation,  of  all  the  data  requisite 
for  the  solution  of  the  problem.  Sagacious  and 
philosophical  travellers  who  have  pursued  this 
inquiry  are,  we  believe,  nearly  unanimous  in 
their  belief  of  the  Mongolian  origin  of  the 
American  Indian.  We  wash  it  to  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  if  one  part  of  the  system  so  elabo- 
rately constructed  by  Professor  Agassiz  be  thus 
disproved,  the  whole  theory  is  brought  under 
suspicion  ;  and  when  part  after  part  comes  in 
like  manner   to   be   refuted,  the   system   is,  of 

the  copper  mines  of  that  region.  The  present  Indian  inhabitants  knew 
nothing  of  the  copper  till  the  white  men  came  there,  and  were  aston 
ished  when  it  was  demonstrated  that  a  former  race  were  acquainted 
with  the  mines.  Now  it  is  believed  that  this  former  and  more  civilized 
race  has  been  identified  with  the  Aztecs,  who,  having  landed  on  the 
north-western  shore  of  North  America,  settled  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Superior,  until  they  were  pushed  forward  b}-  the  more  warlike  Ojibways, 
leaving  traces  at  various  points  in  their  progress  southward  until  they 
reached  Mexico. 


T  H  E   11  u  -M  A  X   n  A  <:  E  s .  259 

course,  utterly  discredited.  We  may  thus,  iu 
replying  to  the  objections  urged  against  the 
doctrine  of  a  single  origin  for  the  human  races, 
find  "an  easy  way  of  carrying  the  war  into  Af- 
rica ;"  but  really,  it  seems  needless  to  add  any- 
thing to  the  remarks  made  in  a  preceding  chap- 
ter in  noticing  the  gratuitous  character  of  the 
hypothesis  to  which  Prof.  Agassiz  has  given 
his  sanction, 

§  2. 

INTELLECTUAL    AND    JIORAL    DITERSITIES    OF     RACES. 

"The  grand  problem,'' according  to  one  of 
the  authors  of  '  The  Types  of  Mankind,'  "  more 
particularly  interesting  to  all  readers,  is  that 
which  involves  the  common  origin  of  races  ; 
for  upon  the  latter  deduction  hang  not  only 
certain  religious  dogmas,  but  the  more  practical 
question  of  the  equality  and  perfectibility  of 
races.  Whether  an  original  diversit}'  of  races 
be  admitted  or  not,  iho,  perma7ience  of  existing 
physical  types  will  not  be  questioned  by  any 
archaeologist  or  naturalist  of  the   present  day; 


260  COMMON     PARENTAGE    OF 

nor  by  such  competent  arbitrators  can  the 
consequent  permanence  of  moral  and  intel- 
lectual peculiarities  of  types  be  denied.  The 
intellectual  man  is  inseparable  from  the  physical 
man  ;  and  the  nature  of  the  one  cannot  be 
altered  without  a  corresponding  change  in  the 
other." 

The  same  writer,  Dr.  J.  C.  Nott,  has  again 
made  use  of  the  same  argument  in  the  appen- 
dix to  an  American  reprint  of  the  interesting 
and  suggestive  essay  of  Count  A.  de  Gobineau, 
on  the  "Moral  and  Intellectual  Diversity  of 
Races."  He  regards  "most  of  Count  Gob- 
ineau's  conclusions  as  incontrovertible."  We 
are  not  prepared  to  dissent  from  this  estimate 
of  their  value  ;  but  we  go  further, — we  adopt 
some  very  important  ones  which  Dr.  Nott  re- 
jects ;  for  it  so  happens  that  this  very  work 
contains  a  refutation  of  his  views  respecting 
either  a  specific  distinction  or  a  plural  origin 
of  the  races,  or,  at  least,  it  demonstrates  the 
entire  consistency  of  all  the  known  facts  relat- 
incj;  to  the  intellectual  diversities  of  race  with 
the  idea  of  their  specific    unity   and  common 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  261 

descent.  Assuming,  on  grounds  which  have 
been  ah'eady  stated,*  that  all  mankind  have 
sprung  from  a  common  parentage,  the  author 
contends  that  this  fact  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  idea  of  permanent  differences  among  the 
races,  and  justifies  his  position  by  referring  to 
the  analogous  case  of  different  children  of  the 
same  parents.  "  If  two  men,  the  offspring  of  j 
the  same  parents,  can  be  the  one  a  dunce,  the 
other  a  genius,  why  cannot  different  races,  ; 
though  descended  of  the  same  stock,  be  different 
also  in  intellectual  endowments?"  "All  that 
is  here  contended  for  is,  that  tlie  distinctive 
features  of  such  races,  in  whatever  manner 
they  have  originated,  are  now  persistent.  Two 
men  may,  the  one  arrive  at  the  highest  honors 
of  the  state,  the  other  with  every  facility  at 
his  command  forever  remain  in  mediocrity  ; 
yet  these  men  may  be  brothers." 

In  an  admirable  chapter  on  the  "Influence 
of  Christianity  upon  the  Moral  and  Intellectual 
Diversity  of  Races,"  the  author  avows  with 
earnestness  and  force  his  unhesitating  convic- 

*  Supra    p.  8S. 


262  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

tioii  of  the  adaptedness  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  all,  even  the  most  hope- 
lessly inferior,  of  the  races.  He  speaks  with 
indignant  warmth  of  those  writers  who  (like 
the  authors  of  "Types  of  Mankind,"  he  might 
have  said,)  "  dare  to  contradict  the  sacred 
promise  of  the  Gospel,  and  deny  the  peculiar 
characteristic  of  our  faith,  which  consists  in  its 
accessibility  to  all  men.  According  to  them, 
religions  are  confined  within  geographical  limits 
which  they  cannot  transgress.  But  the  Chris- 
tian religion  knows  no  degrees  of  latitude  or 
longitude.  There  is  scarcely  a  nation  or  a 
tribe  among  whom  it  has  not  made  converts. 
Statistics, — imperfect,  no  doubt,  but  as  far  as 
they  go,  reliable — show  them  in  great  numbers 
in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  globe  ;  nomad 
Mongols  in  the  steppes  of  Asia,  savage  hunters 
in  the  table-lands  of  the  Andes,  dark-hued 
natives  of  an  African  clime,  persecuted  in  China, 
tortured  in  Madagascar,  perishing  under  the 
lash  in  Japan.  But  this  universal  capacity  of 
receiving  the  light  of  the  Gospel  must  not  be 
confounded,  as  is  often  done,  with  a  faculty  of 


THE    HUMAN    E  A  C  E  S  .  263 

entirely  different  character,  that  of  social  im- 
provement. This  latter  consists  in  being  able 
to  conceive  new  wants,  which,  being  snpplied, 
give  rise  to  others,  and  gradually  produce  that 
perfection  of  the  social  and  political  system 
which  we  call  civilization.  While  the  former 
belongs  equally  to  all  races,  whatever  may  be 
their  disparity  in  other  respects,  the  latter  is  of 
a  purely  intellectual  character,  and  the  preroga- 
tive of  certain  privileged  groups,  to  the  partial 
or  even  total  exclusion  of  others.  With  regard 
to  Christianity,  intellectual  deficiencies  cannot 
be  a  hinderance  to  a  race.  Our  religion  ad- 
dresses itself  to  the  lowly  and  simple,  even  in 
preference  to  the  great  and  wise  of  this  earth. 
Intellect  and  learning  are  not  necessary  to  sal- 
vation."* 

It  gives  us  real  pleasure  to  quote  these  lines 
from  a  work  written  in  a  truly  philosophical 
spirit.  We  are  not,  indeed,  fully  prepared  to  ad- 
mit all  the  conclusions  of  the  learned  author  ; 
not,  however,  that  they  are  intrinsically  inad- 

*  Moral  and  Intellectual   Diversity  of  Races.      By  CouxT  A.  db 
GOBISEAU.     Edited  by  H.  HoTZ.     P.  216. 


264  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

missible,  but  solely  because  the  evidence  does 
not  appear  to  us  to  be  entirely  adequate  to 
warrant  some  of  his  inductions.*  We  are  not 
sure,  for  example,  that  he  has  not  exaggerated 
the  significance  of  the  past  as  betokening  the 
future  inferiority,  for  all  time,  of  certain  races. 
With  regard  to  some  of  these  races,  at  least,  it 
^V  i.does  not  appear  to  us  that  the  experiment  of 
testing  the  inveteracy  of  their  resistance  to 
the    influences    tending    to    improvement    and 

*  The  late  Hugh  Miller  seems  to  have  arrived  at  conclusions  similar 
to  those  of  Count  Gobineau,  respecting  Uie  permanent  inequality  of 
the  races.  After  enumerating  and  characterizing  many  of  the  inferior 
races,  he  proceeds  to  say :  "All  these  varieties  of  the  species,  in  w^hich 
v\e  find  humanity  -fallen,'  accordmg  to  the  poet,  'into  disgrace,'  are 
varieties  that  have  lapsed  from  the  original  Caucasian  type.  They  are 
all  descendants  of  man  as  God  created  him  ;  but  they  do  not  exemplify 
man  as  God  created  him.  They  do  not  represent,  save  in  hideous 
caricature,  the  glorious  creature  moulded  of  old  by  the  hand  of  the 
Divine  Worker.  They  are  fallen  —degraded  ;  many  of  ihetn,  as  race!', 
hopdcsdij  lost.  For  all  experience  seiTes  to  nhmv  that  when  a  tribe  of  iven 
falls  beneath  a  certain  level,  it  cannot  come  iiiio  competition  icith  civiiizfd 
man,  pressing  outtcards  from  hi^  old  centres  to  possess  the  earth,  uilhoni 
becoming  extinct  before  him.  Sunk  beneath  a  certain  level,  as  in  the 
forests  of  America,  in  Van  Dieman's  Land,  in  New  South  "Wales,  and 
among  the  Bushmen  of  tlie  Cape,  the  experience  of  more  tli:in  a 
hundred  years  demonstrates  tliat  its  destiny  is  extinctiom— not  restora- 
tion. Individuals  may  be  recovered  by  the  labors  of  some  zealous 
missionary,  but  it  is  the  fate  of  the  race,  after  a  few  generations,  to 
disappear.  It  has  fallen  too  hopelesslj^  low  to  be  restored."  {Testi- 
mony of  the  Ricks.     Edinburgh,  1857,  p.  254. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  265 

civilization  has  been  sufficiently  tried,  and 
accordingly,  while  we  freely  grant  that  the 
question  is  fairly  debatable,  we  must  hold  that 
no  positive  conclusion  can  be  announced  either 
way.  But  let  it  be  granted  that  a  most  decided 
inferiority  in  intellect  and  in  the  capacity  of 
social  improvement  is  to  be  the  permanent  heir- 
loom of  certain  races,  a  point  which  is  not 
only  possible  but  quite  probable,  we  yet  con- 
tend that  it  proves  nothing  with  respect  to  the 
origin  of  such  diversities.  We  have  shown  that 
varieties  among  lower  animals,  known  to  have 
sprung  from  the  same  original  stock,  often  mani- 
fest diversities  even  more  considerable  than 
those  which  separate  the  most  degraded  forms 
of  humanity  from  the  finest  specimens  of  the 
most  intellectual  races,  and  also  that  the  charac- 
teristics of  these  varieties,  once  formed,  are  as 
persistent  as  those  of  the  species  itself,  even 
when  the  influences  that  gave  rise  to  them  have 
been  long  withheld.  Who  would  expect  to  be 
able  to  convert  the  numerous  existing  varieties 
of  the  hog  to  the  wild  boar,  except  by  an  amal- 
gamation ?  There  is,  therefore,  nothing  in  the 
12 


266  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

admitted  fact  of  the  permanency  of  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  inferiority  of  certain  races, 
which  in  the  least  conflicts  with  the  hypothesis 
of  their  common  origin. 

We  must  here  notice  and  condemn  the  in- 
sidious appeal  addressed  in  "  The  Types  of  Man- 
kind" to  the  prejudices  of  ^slaveholders,  as  a 
most  inadmissible  argument  in  a  discussion 
which  should  be  purely  scientific. 

We  trust  that  those  who,  in  the  providence 
of  God,  have  been  placed  in  that  part  of  our 
common  country  in  which  the  African  race  is 
held  in  servitude,  will  not  be  induced  by  the 
weak  reasoning  of  a  shallow  book  to  put  them- 
selves in  a  false  position  before  the  Christian 
world,  and  foolishly  to  seize  upon  a  scientific 
error,  as  a  mode  of  asserting  rights  which  have 
been  guaranteed  by  the  Federal  Compact,  and 
which  are  incideilt  to  relations  recognized  and 
sanctioned  by  the  inspired  Apostle  to  the  gen- 
tiles.* 

*  While  thus  protesting  against  the  scientific  error  which  asserts  that 
the  black  man  is  an  animal  of  different  origin  and  species  from  his 
■white  master,  we  must  protest  with  equal  emphasis  against  the  absurd 
and,  in  their  consequences,  wicked  doctrines  which  modern  fanaticism 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  267 


§  3. 

THE    ALLEGED     GEOLOGICAL    EVIDENCES    OF   A    PREADAMITE 
RACE    OF    MEN   EXAMINED. 

As  if  from  some  misgiving  as  to  the  adequacy 
of  the  argument  so  laboriously  constructed  on 
perversions  of  the  facts  of  history  and  those 
which  relate  to  the  existing  races  of  organic 
beings,  the  advocates  of  the  diversity-theory, 
with  a  remarkable   lack  of   discretion,  invoke 

strives  to  erect  upon  the  admitted  truth  of  the  unity  of  mankind.  If 
the  inferior  races  "  cannot  come  into  conipetition  with  civihzed  man 
without  becoming  extinct  before  him,  as  Hdgh  Miller  so  forcibly 
argues. — if,  wliile  only  '•  a  few  individuals  may  be  recovered  by  the 
labors  of  some  zealous  missionary,  it  is  the  fate  of  the  race,  after  a  few 
generations,  to  disappear,  for  it  has  ft\llen  too  hopelessly  low  to  be 
restored," — it  certainly  deserves  thoughtful  inquiry  whether  the  singu- 
lar gro-\vth  of  the  black  population  in  the  Southern  States  of  our  con- 
federacy, and  the  marked  improvement  of  the  race  in  physical  and 
moral  characteristics,  may  not  have  resulted  from  its  contact  with  a 
superior  race  in  the  only  relation  that  could  exclude  the  fatal  '•  compe- 
tition ;"  whether,  in  a  word,  tlie  actual  bondage  of  the  blacks  in  Amer- 
ica was  not  intended,  in  the  merciful  and  wise  providence  of  God,  as 
the  onl}'  means  of  extricating  them  from  their  otherwise  inevitable 
'•  destmy;"  and  of  bringing  them  under  the  tutelage  of  a  superior  race 
without  danger  of  becoming  "'extinct  before"  such  higher  race.  A 
little  reflection  on  the  subjects  suggested  by  such  inquiry  would  make 
patent  duties  and  responsibilities  on  the  part  of  every  American  citi- 
zen, nay,  of  every  true  Christian,  with  reference  to  American  Slavery, 
fur  diiferent  from  those  sought  to  be  inculcated  by  the  zealous  aboli- 
tionists of  the  day  both  in  our  country  and  in  Europe.  See  Epistle  of 
St.  Paul  to  Philemon. 


268  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

the  aid  of  Geology  and  Palaeontology,  More 
than  a  century  ago  Bishop  Berkeley  wrote  a 
memorable  passage,  in  which  he  inferred,  on 
grounds  which  maybe  termed  strictly  geological, 
the  recent  date  of  the  creation  of  man.  "  To 
any  one,"  says  he,  "  who  considers  that  on  dig- 
ging into  the  earth,  such  quantities  of  shells, 
and  in  some  places,  bones  and  horns  of  animals, 
are  found  sound  and  entire,  after  having  lain 
there  in  all  probability  some  thousands  of  years  ; 
it  should  seem  probable  that  guns,  medals,  and 
implements  in  metal  or  stone  might  have  lasted 
entire,  buried  under  ground  forty  or  fifty  thou- 
sand years,  if  the  world  had  been  so  old.  How 
comes  it  then  to  pass  that  no  remains  are  found, 
no  antiquities  of  those  numerous  ages  preceding 
the  Scripture  accounts  of  time  ;  that  no  frag- 
ments of  buildings,  no  public  monuments,  no 
intaglios,  no  cameos,  statues,  basso-relievos, 
medals,  inscriptions,  utensils  or  artificial  works 
of  any  kind  are  ever  discovered,  which  may 
bear  testimony  to  the  existence  of  those  mighty 
empires,  those  successions  of  monarchs,  heroes, 
and   demigods,    for   so   many   thousand    years  ? 


T  H  E    II  U  M  A  N    R  A  C  E  S  .  269 

Let  us  look  forward  and  suppose  ten  or  twenty 
thousand  years  to  come,  during  which  time  we 
will  suppose  that  plagues,  famine,  wars,  and 
earthquakes  shall  have  made  great  havoc  in  the 
world, — is  it  not  highly  probable  that  at  the  end 
of  such  a  period,  pillars,  vases,  and  statues  now 
in  being,  of  granite  or  porphyry  or  jasper, 
(stones  of  such  hardness  as  we  know  them  to 
have  lasted  two  thousand  years  above  ground, 
without  any  considerable  alteration),  would 
bear  record  of  these  and  past  ages  ?  Or  that 
some  of  our  current  coins  might  then  be  dug 
up,  or  old  walls  and  the  foundations  of  buildings 
show  themselves,  as  wehs  as  the  shells  and 
stones  of  the  primeval  world,  which  are  preserved 
down  to  our  own  times  ?  "* 

In  quoting  these  lines,  Lyell  adds  a  very 
emphatic  expression  of  his  own  confident  opin- 
ion to  the  same  effect:  "  That  many  signs  of 
the  agency  of  man  would  have  lasted  at  least  as 
long  as  '  the  shells  of  the  primeval  world '  had 
our  race  been  so  ancient,  we  may  feel  as  fully 
persuaded  as  Berkeley  ;  and  we  may  anticipate 

*  Alcipliron.  or  the  Minute  Fhilosopher.    1732.    Vol.  IL,  pp.  84,  85. 


270  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

with  confidence  that  man}^  edifices  and  imple- 
ments of  human  workmanship,  and  the  skele- 
tons of  men,  and  casts  of  the  human  form,  will 
continue  to  exist  when  a  great  part  of  the  pres- 
ent mountains,  continents  and  seas  have  disap- 
peared. Assuming  the  future  duration  of  the 
planet  to  be  indefinitely  protracted,  we  can 
foresee  no  limit  to  the  perpetuation  of  some  of 
the  memorials  of  man.""' 

These  or  similar  objections,  for  they  are  so 
obvious  as  to  have  occurred  to  every  reflecting 
mind  cognizant  of  the  facts,  appear  to  have 
suggested  to  the  authors  of  "The  Types  of 
Mankind"  the  expediency  of  collecting  the 
scattered  statements  which  have  been  occasion- 
ally published  of  the  discovery  of  osseous  and 
industrial  remains  of  man  in  diluvial  drifts,  and 
especially  of  human  fossil  bones  imbedded  in 
various  rocky  strata  along  with  the  vestiges  of 
extinct  species  of  animals.  Hence  the  most 
extraordinary  chapter  in  this  extraordinary 
work,  a  chapter  bearing  the  title,  "Geology  and 
Paleontology  in  connection  with  human    ori- 

*  Principles  of  Geology,  p.  740. 


THE    HUMAN    R  A  C  E  S.„  ^  _^^271 

((UlTI7EESiT 

gins,"  Among  the  cases  of  alleged  fossil  men 
the  most  celebrated  are  the  Guadaloupe  skele- 
tons which,  says  Dr.  Usher,  the  author  of  the 
chapter  under  consideration,  "  have  been  pro- 
nounced recent  in  a  manner  the  most  sum- 
mary.'' In  point  of  fact  they  are  unhesitatingly 
pronounced  "  recent"  by  all  the  most  competent 
geologists,  who  have  moreover  assigned  the  best 
reasons  for  their  verdict.  Thus  Lyell,  repre- 
senting the  general  opinion  of  Geologists,  says 
of  these  Guadaloupe  skeletons,  that  "they  are 
found  in  a  kind  of  rock  which  is  known  to  be 
daily  forming,  and  which  consists  of  minute 
fragments  of  shells  and  corals,  incrusted  W'ith  a 
calcareous  cement  resembling  travertin,  by 
which  also  the  different  grains  are  bound  to- 
gether. The  lens  shows  that  some  of  the  frag- 
ments of  coral  composing  this  stone  still  retain 
the  same  red  color  ivhich  is  seen  in  the  reefs  of 
living  coral  which  surround  the  island.  The  shells 
belong  to  species  of  the  neighboring  sea  intermixed 
with  some  terrestrial  kinds  which  now  live  on  the 
island.  The  human  skeletons  still  retain  some 
of  their  animal  matter,  and  all  their  phosphate 
of  lime. 


272  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

"  Similar  formations  are  in  progress  in  the 
whole  of  the  West  -  Indian  Archipelago,  and 
they  have  greatly  extended  the  plain  of  Cayes, 
in  St.  Domingo,  where  fragments  of  vases  and 
other  human  works  have  been  found  at  a  depth 
of  twenty  feet.  In  digging  wells  also  near 
Catania,  in  Sicily,  tools  have  been  discovered 
in  a  rock  nearly  similar."* 

We  need  scarcely  add  that  the  case  of  Prof. 
Agassiz'  fossil  man  of  Florida  meets  with  no 
better  acceptance  among  geologists,  to  say 
nothing  of  Dr.  Dowler's  estimate  of  57,600 
years  as  the  age  of  the  sub-cypress  Indian  dis- 
entombed at  New- Orleans.  This  whole  argu- 
ment is,  indeed,  so  ver}'^  weak,  and  is  based 
upon   such    questionable    data,    that  even  the 

Westminster  Reviewer,  while  adopting  the 
general  conclusions  of  the  book,  is  constrained 
to  discredit  the  facts  and  reasoning  of  the  chap- 
ter under  consideration. 

Prof.  Richard  Owen,  referring  both  to  the 
general  question  of  the  existence  of  fossil  hu- 
man skeletons  and  to  the  specific  instance  con- 

*  Principles  of  Geology,  p.  734. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  273 

sidered  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  announces  the 
present  opinion  of  geologists  in  the  following 
summary  :  "  Human  bones  have  been  found  in 
doubtful  positions,  geologically  considered,  such 
as  deserted  mines  and  caves,  in  the  detritus  at  the 
bottom  of  cliffs,  but  never  in  tranquil,  undisturb- 
ed deposits,  participating  in  the  mineral  charac- 
ters of  the  undoubted  fossils  of  these  deposits.  The 
petrified  skeletons  in  the  calcareous  concretes  of 
Guadaloupe  are  of  a  comparatively  recent 
origin."  So  much  for  the  geological  proof  of 
the  indefinite  antiquity  of  the  human  race. 

§4. 

ARGUMENT   FOUNDED    ON    THE  "  LONG    CHRONOLOGY"    OF 
EGYPTIAN   MONUMENTS. 

In  this  connection  we  take  occasion  to  com- 
ment briefly  on  the  attempt  made  by  Nott  and 
Gliddon  to  prove  the  existence  in  Egypt  of  a 
nation  in  an  advanced  state  of  development  and 
civilization  at  the  early  date  of  3,800  years  be- 
fore Christ,  whence  they  infer  the  prior  exist- 
ence of  man  for  an  indefinite  number  of  years. 
10='= 


274  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

This  is  indeed  the  prominent  idea  of  their  book, 
the  acceptance  of  which  they  make  the  touch- 
stone by  which  they  test  the  fitness  of  the  first 

savans  of  the  age  to  draw  legitimate  deductions 
from  the  speciahties  to  which  they  have  devoted 
their  Kves.  Their  position  is  thus  stated  by  Dr. 
Nott :  "  The  spurious  systems  of  Archbishop 
Usher  on  the  Hebrew  Text,  and  of  Dr.  Hales 
on  the  Septuagint,  being  entirely  broken  down, 
we  turn,  unshackled  by  prejudice,  to  the  monu- 
mental records  of  Egypt  as  our  best  guide. 
Even  these  soon  lose  themselves,  not  in  the  prim- 
itive state  of  man,  but  in  his  middle  or  per- 
haps modern  age  ;  for  the  Egyptian  Empire  first 
presents  itself  to  view  about  4,000  years  before 
Christ,  as  that  of  a  mighty  nation,  in  full  tide  of 
civilization,  and  surrounded  by  other  realms  and 
races  already  emerging  from  the  barbarous  state." 
Truly  this  is  taking  a  sufficiently  bold  and  dog- 
matic tone.  Let  it  be  contrasted  with  that  of 
leading  Egyptologists,  who,  while  recording  their 
somewhat  hesitating  acceptance  of  the  long 
chronology,  do  yet,  with  the  cautious  reserve 
of  true  science,  candidly  avow  the  incomplete- 


THE    HITMAN    RACES.  276 

ness  and  uncertainty  of  the  proof.  Thus  Ken- 
rick*  says  of  the  hsts  of  Manetho,  which  are 
the  foundation  of  Egyptian  chronology,  that 
they  comprehend,  besides  the  period  of  Gods, 
Manes,  and  Heroes,  thirty  dynasties,  from 
Menes  downward  to  the  younger  Nectanebus. 
In  some  of  them  the  names  of  all  the  kings  are 
given,  with  the  length  of  their  reigns,  in  years^ 
and  the  sums  of  each  dynasty;  in  others  the 
names  do  not  appear,  but  the  numbers  of 
the  kings  and  the  sums  of  their  reigns  are  pre- 
served. The  historical  facts  are  very  brief;  of 
most  of  the  kings  nothing  whatsoever  is  re- 
corded, and  the  synchronisms  noted  appear  to 
be  due  to  the  Christian  chronologers  (who  had 
copied  Manetho's  lists)  rather  than  to  Manetho 
himself,  whose  original  works  are  all  lost.  The 
sum  of  all  these  dynasties  varies,  according  to 
our  present  sources,  from  4,684  to  5,049  years  ; 
the  number  of  kings  from  300  to  350  and  even 
to  500. 

"  It  is  evidently  impossible  to  found  a  chronolo- 

"  Aucient  Egypt    under   the   Pharaohs,  by  John  Kenrick,  M.  A. 
1852. 


276  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

gy  on  such  a  basis,  but  Syncellus  tells  us  that 
the  number  of  generations  included  in  the 
thirty  dynasties  was,  according  to  Manetho 
and  the  old  Egyptian  chronicle,  113  ;  and  the 
whole  number  of  years  3,555.  This  number 
falls  much  short  of  what  the  summation  of  the 
reigns  would  furnish  according  to  any  reading 
of  the  numbers,  but  is  nearly  the  same  as  113 
generations  would  produce  at  the  average  of 
thirty-two  years  to  each.  That  Manetho  would 
have  access  to  all  the  documentary  and  monu- 
mental evidence  which  the  temples  and  public 
records  supplied  (B.  C.  322-284,)  we  cannot 
doubt,  but  that  from  these  it  was  practicable  in 
the  third  century  before  the  Christian  era  to  de- 
duce a  chronology  extending  backward  to  the 
foundation  of  the  monarchy,  is  hy  7io  means  pro- 
bable. .  .  .  When  we  compare  him  with 
the  monuments,  although  there  is  sufficient  ac- 
cordance to  vindicate  his  integrity,  there  is  also 
sufficient  discrepancy  to  prevent  implicit  reliance 
in  the  absence  of  monuments. 

"If  we   suppose  that  an   accurate  record  of 
the  successive   reigns  and  the   length  of  each 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  277 

was  preserved  from  the  very  commencement  of 
the  monarchy,  we  might  easily  deduce  the 
chronology  of  the  whole  interval  from  Menes 
to  Nectanebus,  by  adding  together  the  length 
of  all  the  reigns.  But  this  implies  that  all  the 
reigns  were  consecutive  ;  that  there  either  were 
no  joint  or  rival  sovereignties,  or  that  if  they 
existed,  only  one  was  fixed  on  as  the  legitimate 
monarch,  and  his  years  alone  entered  in  the  suc- 
cession. A  history  of  Great  Britain  in  which 
the  years  of  the  kings  of  England  and  Scotland 
before  the  union  of  the  crowns,  or  those  of  the 
Stuart  and  Brunswick  princes  since  the  revolu- 
tion, were  added  together,  would  present  a  very 
false  chronology."* 

"It  was  acutely  observed  by  Bunsen,  that 
where  a  correspondence  exists  between  the 
names  of  Eratosthenes  and  those  of  Manetho, 
it  is  always  in  the  dynasties  which  the  latter 
calls  Theban  or  Memphite  ;  and  that  where  the 
names  are  lost,  the  numbers  show  that  there 
has  been  no  such  correspondence  in  the  others. 
And   hence  he   infers   that   only  those  who  be- 

*  Aucient  Egj'pt  under  the  Pharaohs,  pp.  79,  80. 


278  COMMON     PARENTAGE    OF 

longed  to  the  two  ancient  capitals  of  Egypt 
were  the  true  sovereigns  of  the  country,  whose 
reigns  give  its  real  chronology  ;  while  the 
others  (Elephantinites,  Heracleopolites,  Xoites), 
though  called  kings,  never  exercised  a  real  su- 
premacy, and  being  contemporaneous  with  the 
Thebans  or  Memphites,  do  not  enter  into 
the  chronological  reckoning.  Notwithstanding 
the  ability  with  which  this  attempt  to  reconcile 
Eratosthenes  and  Manetho  is  supported,  we  can- 
not feel  such  confidence  in  its  soundness  as  to 
make  it  the  basis  of  a  history.  We  shall,  there- 
fore, treat  the  dynasties  of  the  latter  as  being, 
what  he  evidently  considered  them  to  be,  suc- 
cessive, unless  where  there  is  some  internal  or 
independent  evidence  of  error  ;  admitting  at  the 
same  time  that  no  great  reliance  can  be  placed  on 
a  chronology  which  professes  to  ascend  to  the  very 
commencement  of  the  reign  of  mortal  kings  in 
Egypt.  But  there  appears  no  evidence  that 
Manetho  wilfully  tampered  with  facts  known 
to  him,  to  favor  an  astronomical  or  an  histori- 
cal theory  ;  his  system  may  be  baseless,  but  it 
is  not  fictitious."* 

*  AnoioDt  Eiivpt  under  tlio  Pharaohs,  p.  82. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  279 

We  cannot  too  highly  commend  the  tone  of 
candor  and  the  spirit  of  cautious  generahzing 
indicated  in  these  passages,  from  a  writer  admit- 
ted by  Gliddon  himself  to  rank  high  among 
modern  Egyptologists.  We  do  not  design  to 
discuss  the  question  of  consecutive  or  contem- 
poraneous dynasties  in  regard  to  which  there 
appears  to  be  a  slight  difference  of  opinion  be- 
tween Kenrick  and  Bunsen,  but  we  may  ob- 
serve, in  passing,  that  Bunsen's  idea,  as  ex- 
plained in  the  preceding  paragraph,  is  carried 
out  to  a  much  greater  extent  by  another  Egyp- 
tian traveller  and  scholar,  Mr.  Samuel  Sharpe, 
whom  Gliddon  characterizes  as  a  man  "  of  vast 
classical  erudition  and  keen  criticism."  We  are 
frank  to  confess  that  we  have  not  given  sufficient 
attention  to  this  subject  to  estimate  the  value  of 
ihe  evidence  on  the  two  sides.  Our  main  object 
has  been  to  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to 
the  modest  and  cautious  style  of  reasoning  ex- 
hibited by  an  unprejudiced  inquirer  after  truth, 
in  striking  co.itrast  with  the  rude  and  offensive 
dogmatism  of  the  pretentious  work  we  have 
felt  it  our  duty    to  criticise.     We  might  con- 


280  THE     HUMAN     RACES. 

ditionallj  admit  the  correctness  of  Manetho's 
list  as  one  of  successive  dynasties,  and  that  of 
the  "  long  chronology  system"  founded  thereon, 
without  touching  the  question  of  the  origin  of 
the  human  varieties,  or  without  impugning 
either  the  integrity  of  the  sacred  text  or  the 
authenticity  of  its  narrative  ;  since  it  was  not 
unusual  for  the  sacred  historians  to  give  incom- 
plete genealogical  lists,  one  or  more  names  being 
omitted  in  most  of  such  lists  as  are  given  in  the 
Bible  ;  for  it  was  their  object  rather  to  indicate 
the  general  line  of  succession  than  to  furnish 
the  materials  for  the  construction  of  a  chrono- 
logical table. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

APPRECIATION  OF  THE  SCIEJNTTIFIC  CHARACTEE  OF  THE 
WRITINGS  OF  NOTT  AND  GLIDDON,  WHICH  RELATE  TO 
ETHNOLOGY SUMMARY  RECAPITULATION  OF  THE  AR- 
GUMENTS   IN     FAVOR    OF    THE    UNITY    OF    JIA>^KIND. 

The  many  and  glaring  scientific  faults  of  the 
volume  '*'  which,  sustained  by  the  apparent  sanc- 
tion of  so  eminent  a  naturahst  as  Prof.  Agassiz, 
and  by  the  free  and  unwarranted  use  of  other 
great  names,  has  been  made  the  medium  of  in- 
stilling into  the  minds  of  the  young  men  of 
America  a  rank  infidelity,  under  cover  of  the 
pretended  authority  of  science,  have  been  to 
some  extent  pointed  out  in  the  process  of  the 
specific  criticisms  which  we  have  made  on  its 
several  departments.  We  cannot,  however, 
refrain  from  noticing  a  few  other  evidences 
of  a  gross  departure  from  the  fair  reasoning, 
and  from   the  calm,  patient  and  humble  spirit 

*  "Types  of  Mankind,"  by  Nott  and  Grliddoa 

[281] 


282  COM  il  UN     P  A  H  E  X  T  A  G  E    OF 

which  ought  to  characterize  and  do  always 
characterize  true  science.  It  is  habitual  with 
the  principal  contributors  to  this  work,  to  dog- 
matize with  a  boldness  and  energy  proportional 
to  the  slenderness  of  the  evidence  on  wliich 
their  opinions  are  based,  this  trait  bemg  con- 
spicuously manifested  in  respect  to  subjects 
about  which  the  most  learned  and  unprejudiced 
ethnologists  have  either  come  to  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent conclusion,  or  else  find  it  necessary  to 
speak  w^ith  the  utmost  diffidence  and  caution. 

Another  prominent  characteristic  which  ren- 
ders that  work  highly  offensive  to  Christian 
readers  is,  the  disposition  manifested  on  almost 
every  page  to  treat  with  bitter  contempt  all  who 

believe  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
It  is  well  known  that  a  large  number  of  Bibli- 
cal scholars  have  maintained,  on  grounds  irre- 
spective of  scientific  difficulties,  that  the  Noa- 
chian  deluge  was  partial  in  its  extent,  covering 
only  those  portions  of  the  earth  then  inhabited 
by  the  human  family.  Dr.  Nott  is  unwiUing  to 
give  "  Sectarians,"  as  he  terms  all  believers  in 
the  genuineness,  authenticity,  and  inspiration  of 


THE  HUMAN  Races.  283 

the  Scriptures,  the  benefit  of  this  exegesis.  He 
grows  warm  at  the  very  idea  of  their  escaping 
from  the  diffieulties  which  his  science  raises  up 
against  the  possibihty  of  a  universal  deluge. 
His  colleague  is  even  more  malignant  and  de- 
nunciatory. Speaking  of  the  book  of  Genesis, 
he  says: 

"  Viewed  as  a  literary  work  of  ancient  humani- 
tifs  loftiest  conception  of  creative  power,  it  is 
sublime  beyond  all  cosmogonies  known  in  the 
world's  history.  Yiewed  as  a  narrative  inspired 
by  the  Most  High,  its  conceits  would  be  pitiful 
and  its  revelations  false  ;  because  telescopic 
astronomy  has  ruined  its  celestial  structure, 
physics  have  negatived  its  cosmic  organism,  and 
geology  has  stultified  the  fabulous  terrestrial 
mechanism  upon  which  its  assumptions  are 
based.  How,  then,  are  its  crude  and  juvenile 
hypotheses  about  human  creation  to  be  re- 
ceived? "* 

jN^ow,  when  it  is  remembered  that  this  same 
gentleman  tells  us  that  his  "  former  pursuits 
(in  Muslim   lands)   were   remote  from  natural 

*  Types  of  Mankind,  p.  565. 


284  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

science,"  and  such  as  to  disqualify  him  from 
sharing  the  labors  of  its  votaries,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  he  is  sufficiently  presumptuous 
to  characterize,  in  such  terms,  conclusions  em- 
braced by  many  of  the  most  eminent  geologists 
of  the  present  day.  Thus,  Prof.  Dana  demon- 
strates, in  an  elaborate  comparison  of  the  "  two 
records," — that  of  geology,  and  that  of  written 
revelation, — the  most  exact  and  wonderful  coin- 
cidence between  the  cosmogony  of  Moses, 
rightly  interpreted,  and  the  facts  of  the  most 
advanced  modern  science,  a  coincidence  which 
would  be  utterly  inexplicable  on  any  other 
hypothesis  than  that  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
sacred  historian.  "If,"  says  he,  "but  little 
flexibility  is  allowed  to  the  Hebrew  by  the  ex- 
egetical  student,  the  record  will  stand  firm,  sus- 
tained by  Nature  and  the  God  of  Nature.  We 
call  it  flexibility  ;  yet  we  have  the  authority  of 
some  learned  Biblical  scholars  for  concludino- 
that  the  liberal  rendering  required  by  science 
is  the  only  correct  rendering  of  the  original 
words  of  Moses.     Our  own  faith  in  both  records 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  285 

is  the  more  confirmed  the  deeper  we  pursue  our 
investigations." 

Again:  "The  first  thought  that  strikes  the 
scientific  reader  is,  the  evidence  of  Divinity, 
not  merely  in  the  first  verse  of  the  record,  and 
the  successive  fiats,  but  in  the  whole  order  of 
creation.  There  is  so  much  that  the  most  recent 
readings  of  science  have  for  the  first  time  ex- 
plained, that  the  idea  of  ma?i  as  the  author,  be- 
comes utterly  ijicomprehensible.  By  proving  the 
record  true,  science  pronounces  it  divine  ;  for 
who  could  have  correctly  narrated  the  secrets 
of  eternity  but  God  himself?'"* 

"  Indeed,"  says  Dr.  Hitchcock,  "  I  have  never 
met  with  a  single  attempt,  in  any  language,  by 
any  respectable  geologist,  to  adduce  the  facts  of 
the  science  to  the  discredit  of  revelation.  Many 
of  them  are,  doubtless,  sceptical  ;  but  they  have 
not  done  this  thing,  as  they  are  charged.  If  it 
has  been  done  at  all,  it  is  by  men  of  no  reputa- 

3  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Jan.,  1856,  pp.  118  and  110.  Prof.  Dana 
ascribes  to  rrof.  Arnold  Guyot  the  credit  of  having  enunciated  tho 
best  views  lie  had  met  with  on  the  harmony  between  science  and  the 
Bible,  and  avow.s  liimself  indebted  to  that  savant  for  the  thought  ox- 
pros3ed  in  ihe  latter  paragnipli. 


286  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

tion  as  geologists."  He  then  adds  in  a  note  : 
"  How  easy  would  it  be  to  substantiate  these 
statements  by  quotations  from  the  most  eminent 
geological  writers  of  the  last  fifty  years ;  such 
as  Jameson,  Silliman,  Buckland,  Conybeare, 
Mantell,  Sedgwick,  Lyell,  MacCulloch,  Miller, 
&c.  But  I  will  refer  only  to  a  recent  work  by 
two  eminent  French  geologists,  C.  D'Orbigny 
and  A.  Gente,  published  in  Paris  in  1851,  en- 
titled '  Geologie  appliqu^e  aux  Arts  et  k  I'Agri- 
culture.'  Coming  from  a  city  generally  regarded 
as  the  centre  of  European  scepticism,  and  whose 
learned  men  have  been  considered  as  unfriendly 
to  the  Bible,  it  is  gratifying  to  find  that  these 
authors,  after  a  laborious  attempt  to  bring  reve- 
lation and  geology  into  harmony,  pass  the  fol- 
lowing noble  eulogium  upon  the  sacred  volume  : 
'  In  view  of  the  chronological  agreement  be- 
tween Genesis  and  the  most  authentic  o-eologi- 
cal  facts,  we  cannot  but  accord  to  this  m3^steri- 
ous  book  something  profound  and  supernatural. 
If  the  mind  is  not  convinced,  it  at  least  bows 
reverently  before  such  writings,  brought  out  in 
an  age  when  we  cannot  suppose  the   first  ele- 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  287 

ments  of  the  natural  sciences  were  known,  and 
which  embraces  a  development  of  the  principal 
events  of  which  our  globe  has  been  the  theatre. 
We  find  in  Genesis  something  so  simple,  so 
touching,  and  so  superior  in  respect  to  morality 
and  philosophy,  that  the  sceptic,  astonished 
moreover  at  the  genius  that  could  foretell  facts 
which  scientific  researches  should  demonstrate 
so  many  ages  afterwards,  is  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge that  there  is  in  this  book  the  evidence  of 
inspiration  secret  and  supernatural  ;  an  inspira- 
tion which  he  cannot  comprehend,  which  he 
cannot  explain,  but  which  strongly  affects  him, 
presses  upon  him,  and  controls  him.'  "  * 

Another  feature  in  this  book  which  calls  for 
critical  notice  and  emphatic  condemnation,  even 
though  it  depends  as  we  suppose  on  the  care- 
lessness of  the  writer  rather  than  any  inten- 
tional design  to  mislead  the  ignorant  or  super- 
ficial reader,  consists  in  frequently  using  names 
of  high  scientific  standing,  in  such  a  connection 
as  to  produce  the  impression  that  their  sanction 

*  Hitchcock.     Religious  Truth  Illustrated  from  Science ;  p.  82,  and 
note. 


288  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

is  given  to  the  opinions  advocated  in  the  book, 
when,  in  point  of  fact,  the  reverse  is  often  the 
case.  A  most  glaring  instance  of  this  is  ex- 
hibited in  quoting  a  playful  passage  from  a 
private  letter  addressed  to  Dr.  Morton  by  Dr. 
Pickering,  then  recently  arrived  in  Egypt.  "  I 
had  not  been  three  hours  in  the  country,"  writes 
Dr.  Pickering,  "before  I  arrived  at  the  con- 
clusion that  the  ancient  Egyptians  were  neither 
Malays  nor  Hindoos,  but Egyptians  !" 

Mr.  Gliddon,  being  about  to  introduce  this 
letter,  before  he  names  the  writer  or  gives  its 
contents,  tantalizes  the  reader,  whom  he  wishes 
to  prepare  for  some  marvellous  discovery,  by 
saying : 

"It  is  invested  with  the  signature  of  a  voya- 
ger long  blanched  under  the  harness  of  scien- 
tific pursuits  ;  who,  as  naturalist  to  the  United 
States  Exploring  Expedition,  had  sailed  round 
the  world,  and  beheld  ten  types  of  mankind, 
before  he  wrote,  after  exploring  the  petro- 
glyphs  of  the  Nile  :  '  I  have  seen  in  all  eleven 
races  of  men,' etc.  Qualified  to  judge,  through 
especial  training,  varied  attainments,  and  habits 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  289 

of  keen  observation,  that,  in  natural  history, 
are  preeminent  for  accuracy,  iho.  first  impressions 
of  the  gentleman  from  whose  letter  to  his 
attached  friend  we  make  hold  to  extract  a  few 
sentences,  (preserving  their  original  form,)  are 
strikingly  to  the  point." 

Now,  the  words,  ''first  impressions,^^  which 
we  have  italicized,  are  significant.  Whatever 
importance  was  attached  to  these  impressions  by 
Dr.  Pickering  himself,  when  they  were  thus 
playfully  stated  in  his  letter,  in  December,  1843, 
it  is  certain,  that  at  the  later  date  of  his  official 
Report,  under  the  title  of  "Races  of  Men,  and 
their  Geographical  Distribution,"  jDublished  in 
1848,  he  did  not  use  the  term  "  races"  as  equiv- 
alent to  primeval  types  ;  for,  in  the  very 
work  containing  the  short  passages  quoted  by 
Gliddon,  there  is  another  passage  which  he  does 
not  quote.  After  adverting  to  the  permanency 
of  varieties,  declaring  that  within  his  own 
observation  he  had  found  no  tendency  in 
varieties  to  revert,  in  the  course  of  successive 
generations,  to  the  original  type,  (a  zoological 
principle  ignored  or  denied  by  the  authors  of 
13 


290  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

"  The  Types  of  Mankind,"  inasmuch  as  a  rec- 
ognition of  it  would  invahdate    their    famous 

argument  of  a  diversity  of  species,  as  founded 
on  the  permanency  of  types,)  Dr.  Pickering 
goes  on  to  say  : 

"There  is,  I  conceive,  no  middle  ground  be- 
tween the  admission  of  eleven  distinct  species 
in  the  human  family  and  the  reduction  to  one. 
The  latter  opinion,  from  analogy  with  the  rest 
of  the  organic  world,  implies  a  central  point 
of  origin.  Further,  zoological  considerations, 
though  they  do  not  absolutely  require  it,  seem 
most  to  favor  a  centre  on  the  African  continent. 
Confirmatory  circumstances  of  a  different  char- 
acter are  not  wanting."  * 

These  '  confirmatory  circumstances'  he  pro- 
ceeds to  indicate  ;  but  we  omit  them,  as  not 
material  to  our  present  purpose,  which  is 
merely  to  show  that  this  author,  thus  avowing 
his  belief  in  a  single  central  origin  of  the 
human  races,  has  been  placed  in  a  false  position, 
in  order  to  lend  weight  to  the  rash  and  weak 
conclusions,  for  the  promulgation  of  which  the 

*  Pickering.     Races  of  Men,  etc.,  Bohn's  edition,  p.  315. 


THE     H  U  M  A  X    RACES.     ■  291 

work  of  Xott  and  Gliddon  has  been  so  labori- 
ously compiled. 

A  similar  instance  of  carelessness  in  quot- 
ing another  eminent  naturalist,  whose  opin- 
ions are  stated  in  such  a  connection  as  to  bear 
the  appearance  of  sanctioning  the  peculiar 
views  of  these  writers,  is  found  on  page  457, 
where  Dr.  Nott,  after  disclaiming  any  desire  to 
degrade  any  type  of  humanity  to  the  level  of 
the  brute  creation,  adds  that,  nevertheless  "  it 
cannot  be  rationally  affirmed  that  the  orang- 
outan  and  chimpanzee  are  more  widely  sepa- 
rated from  certain  African  and  Oceanic  Ne- 
groes, than  are  the  latter  from  the  Teutonic  or 
Pelasgic  tribes.  But,"  he  continues,  "  the  very 
accomplished  anatomist  of  Harvard  University, 
Dr.  Jeffries  Wyman,  has  placed  this  question  in 
its  true  light."  Then  follows  a  correct  citation 
of  Dr.  Wyman's  remarks,  in  which,  strange  to 
say,  we  find  these  words  :  "Any  anatomist  who 
will  take  the  trouble  to  compare  the  skeletons 
of  the  Negro  and  Orang,  cannot  fail  to  be  struck 
at  sight  with  the  wide  gap  which  separates 
them.      The   difference   between  the  cranium, 


292  COMMON    TARE  NT  AGE    OF 

the  pelvis,  and  the  conformation  of  the  upper 
extremities,  in  the  Negro  and  Caucasian,  sinks 
into  insignificance  when  compared  with  the  vast 
difference  which  exists  between  the  conformation 
of  the  same  parts  in  the  Negro  and  the  OrangV 
The  itahcs  are  ours.  This  is,  we  admit,  "  to 
place  this  question  in  its  true  light,"  but  it  is 
the  reverse  of  the  position  assumed  by  Dr. 
Nott,  who  yet  quotes  this  passage  to  sustain 
his  position  ! 

Some  of  the  characteristics  which  we  have 
attributed  to  this  work,  as  invalidating  its  title 
to  be  acknowledged  as  a  product  of  genuine 
science,  are  exhibited  in  a  concentrated  form 
in  a  final  summary  of  what  the  writer  calls 
"legitimate  deductions"  "from  the  facts  now 
accessible."  It  is  unnecessary  to  notice  most 
of  these,  as  they  have  been  fully  answered  in 
the  course  of  our  argument.  The  fifth  among 
them  is  thus  expressed  :  "  That  permanence  of 
type  is  accepted  by  science  as  the  surest  test 
of  SPECIFIC  character."  This  we  meet  with  an 
emphatic  denial  ;  unless  by  an  arbitrary  defini- 
tion the  writer  restrict  the  application  of  type 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  293 

to  distinct  species,  in  which  case  he  assumes  in 
his  definition  the  thing  to  be  proved,  and  then 
makes  a  show  of  demonstrating  it,  by  merely 
quoting  his  arbitrary  definition.  If  he  means 
by  "  type"  any  distinctive  character  or  combi- 
nation of  characters  which  is  found  to  be  per- 
manent, we  deny  that  science  has  shown  perma- 
nency of  type  to  be  any  more  characteristic  of 
species  than  of  certain  varieties,  which  for  that 
reason  are  called  permanent  varieties,  the  ex- 
istence of  which  within  the  limits  of  a  single 
species,  as  of  the  hog,  horse,  cow,  yea,  and  Man, 
is  admitted  by  the  great  body  of  men  of  "  sci- 
ence," in  every  centre  of  learning  in  Europe 
and  America — men,  too,  representing  every 
branch  of  "  science"  which  bears  at  all  upon 
the  question  ;  in  Comparative  Anatomy  and 
Physiology,  Flourens,  MIiller,  Owen,  Carpen- 
ter, Draper,  etc.  ;  in  Natural  History  and 
Geology,  Ed.  Forbes,  Lyell,  Hitchcock,  Dana, 
etc.  ;    in    Philology,    Wm.    Humboldt,*  Grimm, 

*  Mr.  Gliddou  has  attempted  to  show  (Indigenous  Races  of  the 
Earth,  pp.  402-409),  that  William  Humboldt  has  pronounced  "a  ma- 
ture opinion"  adverse  to  the  doctrine  of  the  single  origin  of  mankind, 
and  that  this  opinion  is  "  endorsed"  by  his  illustrious  brother.     We  do 


294  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

Latham,  Gallatin,  etc. ;  in  General  Ethnology, 
Alexander  Humboldt,  Prichard,  Pickering, 
Schoolcraft,  etc.  ;  and  in  Egyptology,  Bunsen, 
Lepsius,  and  others,  who  are  further  accredited 
for  their  vast  philological  erudition,  and  have 
announced  their  firm  belief  in  the  unity  of  the 
races,  as  legitimately  deduced  from  their  lin- 
guistic researches.     "  There  is,"  says  the  saga- 

not,  however,  erase  their  names  from  the  above  Hst  (which  miglit  be 
indefinitely  extended),  because,  in  the  first  place,  whatever  may  have 
been  their  doubts  as  to  the  possibility  o^ proving  the  descent  of  all  man- 
kind from  a  single  pair,  it  is  certain  that  they  have  both  advocated  the 
community  of  origin  of  races  now  distinguished  by  permanent  typical 
characters,  and  this  is  the  question  to  which  immediate  reference  is  had 
in  the  foregoing  passage ;  and  because,  second  Ij^,  they  have  elsewhere 
expressed  themselves  in  such  terms  as  to  warrant  the  belief  that  they 
had  a  very  decided  leaning  towards  the  doctrme  of  a  single  origin  of 
all  the  human  races.  Thus,  for  Alexander  Humboldt,  see  the  passage 
from  Cosmos  already  quoted  (Supra  p.  220),  and  for  Wm.  Humboldt, 
note  the  following  concession  of  Gliddou  himself,  which,  despite  its 
hypothetical  form,  is  yet  significant.  He  says  (op.  cit.,  p.  423),  "  Even 
under  the  supposition  that  Wilhehn  von  Humboldt,  in  his  now  past 
generation,  when  writing  'on  the  Dimsifi/  of  Languages  and  Peoples,' 
may  have  speculated  upon  the  possibility  of  reducing  both  into  one 
original  stock,  it  will  remain  equally  certain  that,  in  such  an  assumed 
conclusion,  he  was  biassed  by  no  dogmatical  respect  for  Myths,  Fictiox, 
or  Pretekded  Tradition;  and  furthermcire,  that,  if  he  grounded  his 
results  on  the  ■Katri  Sprache,'  he  inadvertmitly  built  upon  a  quicksand, 
!is  sub.sequent  researches  have  established."  In  other  words,  Mr.  Glid- 
don  can  tolerate  a  man's  bolieving  in  ilie  single  origin  of  mankind, 
prov'ded  only  lie  hold  the  statum.  nts  of  the  Holy  Bible  to  be  "myths, 
lii'tion.  and  pretended  tradition."'  !Such  is  the  animus  with  which  this 
V,  ork  of  so-called  "  science"  is  undertaken. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  295 

cious  Hugh  Miller,  "a  species  of  superstition 
which  inclines  men  to  take  on  trust  whatever 
assumes  the  name  of  science."  With  such  per- 
sons, those  who  make  the  most  positive  asser- 
tions in  matters  of  science  are  most  hkely  to 
be  trusted.  They  seem  not  to  be  aware  that 
the  "positivism"  of  genuine  science  consists, 
not  in  confidence  and  boldness  of  assertion,  but 
in  demanding  rigorous  proof  for  every  conclu- 
sion, whether  it  be  expressed  by  affirmative  or 
negative  propositions. 

Another  of  the  "  legitimate  deductions"  of 
Dr.  Nott  is  in  these  words  :  "10.  That  Prolif- 
icacy of  distinct  species  iyiter  se,  is  now  proved 
to  be  no  test  of  common  origin."  No  one  that 
we  ever  heard  of  has  pretended  that  the  power 
of  mixing  the  breeds  in  different  species  is  a 
test  of  common  origin.  No  believer  in  the 
unity  of  the  human  races  has  ever  committed 
the  absurdity  of  maintaining  that  ''distinct  spe- 
cies^^  could  by  any  possibility  have  a  common 
origin.  They  do  maintain,  however,  that  dis- 
tinct  varieties,  no  matter  how  different  in  type, 
may  breed  inter  se  indefinitely  ;  and  they  hold 


296  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

that  the  converse  is  true,  namely,  that  where 
animals  of  distinct  type  are  shown  to  be  capable 
of  crossing  their  breeds  without  limit,  they  are 
thus  proved  to  be  mere  varieties  of  one  species . 
In  the  introduction  to  Part  I.  of  the  work 
which  we  have  felt  it  our  duty  to  criticise.  Dr. 
Nott  reproduces  a  passage  from  his  "Biblical 
and  Physical  History  of  Man,"  in  which  he  dis- 
misses rather  contemptuously  the  idea  of  ex- 
plaining the  diversity  now  seen  in  the  white, 
black,  and  intermediate  colors,  on  the  supposi- 
tion of  a  miracle  or  direct  act  of  the  Almighty, 
in  changing  one  type  into  another.  And  yet 
this  gentleman  does  not  hesitate  to  assert  the 
primeval  origin  of  such  types,  as  if  this  mode 
of  origin  were  any  the  less  miraculous.  The 
formation  of  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth 
was  the  crowning  work  of  creative  skill,  the 
highest  exhibition  of  miraculous  powder.  In- 
asmuch as  it  has  been  shown  that  man  has 
the  power  of  undergoing  acclimation  in  every 
habitable  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  had  the 
means  of  facilitating  his  migrations  from  his 
original  birthplace,  while  moreover  he  is  con- 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  297 

stitutionally  susceptible  of  undergoing  variations 
in  bodily  structure  and  in  intellectual  and  moral 
tendencies,  which  variations,  once  acquired,  are 
subsequently  perpetuated  by  descent,  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  observed  ways  of  Providence  to 
multipl}^  miracles,  and  especially  the  highest 
miracles,  in  order  to  achieve  a  result  which  was 
clearly  practicable  by  natural  processes. 

Nor  is  this  method  of  reasoning  purely  a 
'priori  in  its  application  to  the  question  under 
consideration.  Community  of  languages  and 
other  reliable  data,  such  as  most  significant  re- 
semblances between  the  monuments  of  early 
races  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  furnish 
abundant  proof  of  extensive  migrations  of  the 
human  family  in  ante-historic  times,  and  this 
fact  explains  as  fully  as  can  be  required  the 
circumstance  so  much  insisted  upon  by  Prof. 
Agassiz,  that  "the  earliest  migrations  recorded 
in  any  form,  show  us  man  meeting  man  where- 
ever  he  moves  upon  the  habitable  surface  of  the 
globe,  small  islands  excepted,"  without  the  ne- 
cessity of  having  recourse  to  the  untenable  hy- 
pothesis of  a  frequent  repetition  of  the  great 
13* 


298  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

miracle  of  man's  creation.*  When  a  new  coral 
island  emerges  above  the  sea-level  to  become 
covered  with  vegetation  and  to  receive  a  popu- 
lation of  animated  beings,  it  is  not  by  a  new 
creation  of  species  but  hy  various  means  of 
transport  of  individuals  from  more  or  less  re- 
mote countries,  that  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the 
island  are  established. 

In  view  of  the  results  of  the  critical  exami- 
nation which  we  have  now  made,  at  some  con- 
siderable length,  of  the  theory  which  assigns  a 
diversity  of  origins  for  the  different  races  of 
mankind,  it  must,  we  think,  be  conceded,  that 
tlie  advocates  of  that  theory  have  failed  at  every 
point  to  make  out  their  case.  In  point  of 
fact  the  task  they  aimed  to  accomplish  was  a 
most  difficult  one.  There  was.  in  the  nature  of 
things,  but  one  conceivable  way  of  demonstra- 
ting positively  the  truth  of  that  theory,  and  that 
was  confessedly  precluded  by  the  absolute  in- 
accessibility of  evidence.  We  refer  to  histori- 
cal records  going  back  to  the  first  creation  of 
the  several  distinct  types  of  man,  and  proving 

*  See  AppeudLx  F. 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  299 

that  they  were  separately  created.  In  default 
of  this  they  have  gone  back  as  far,  it  is  freely 
admitted,  as  they  could  go,  and,  finding  evi- 
dence that  distinct  types  existed  at  this  early 
period,  they  have  inferred  that  the  distinctions 
were  original.  We  have  already  more  than 
once  exposed  the  fallacy  of  this  reasoning,  by 
showing,  first,  that  irrespectively  of  the  hypothe- 
sis of  miraculous  interposition,  and  proceeding 
on  the  supposition  that  the  existing  types  have 
sprung  from  natural  causes  bringing  about  va- 
riations, a  comparatively  short  time  is  abun- 
dantly adequate  to  give  rise  to  such  variations  ; 
and  secondly,  that  once  produced,  they  may 
have  all  the  tenacity  and  permanence  of  spe- 
cific characters,  except,  of  course,  where  the 
breeds  are  mixed.  Now,  inasmuch  as  the  ear- 
liest monumental  records  do  not  go  back  to  the 
creation  of  any  one  type,  it  is  manifestly  to  beg 
the  whole  question  to  say  that  they  prove  an 
original  diversity  of  types.  We  have  thus 
provisionally  granted  the  "  permanency"  of  the 
human  types,  as  we  can  well  afford  to  do,  in 
conformity  with  the  analogy  of  "  permanent  va- 


300  COMMON     PARENTAGE    OF 

rieties"  amono;  lower  animals.  But  here  we 
must  put  in  a  caution.  Not  all  varieties  among 
animals  are  permanent.  Many  cases  of  varia- 
tion, slowly  assumed  under  the  influence  of 
causes  operating  through  several  generations, 
exhibit  the  phenomenon  of  the  hereditary  trans- 
mission of  the  acquired  peculiarities  with  con- 
siderable tenacity,  and  yet  under  the  prolonged 
influence  of  opposite  circumstances  may  grad- 
ually lose  such  peculiarities.  This  may,  for 
aught  we  know  to  the  contrary,  be  the  case 
with  the  human  varieties.  It  is  quite  certain 
that  the  monumental  inscriptions  of  Egypt  do 
not  settle  this  question  either  way.  It  is  a  lit- 
tle remarkable  that  reliance  is  so  confidentl}^ 
placed  on  these  monuments,  when  it  is  clear 
that  no  one  can  iioint  out  at  this  day  the  ac- 
tual lineal  descendants  of  the  individual  men  of 
the  negro  and  other  races  depicted  on  them. 
For  aught  that  can  be  proved  to  the  contrar}'-, 
the  actual  descendants  of  the  blacks  who  lived 
contemporaneously  with  the  authors  of  the  in- 
scriptions may  now  exhibit  the  characteristics 
of  any  other   type.     We  have  no  genealogical 


T  H  E    H  U  M  A  N    K  A  C  E  S  .  301 

tables  by  whicli  we  can  icleiitif}-  the  descendants 
in  historical  times  of  the  blacks  of  that  early 
period. 

This  being  so,  what  right  have  they  to  as- 
sert dogmatically  that  the  types  have  not 
changed  in  the  persons  of  the  descendants  of 
those  very  men  ?  All  that  the  monuments 
prove  is,  that  in  that  day  there  was  a  negro 
type  identical  with  one  now  existing,  which  im- 
plies, it  may  be,  the  continued  operation  some- 
where of  the  causes  which  originally  produced 
that  type,  but  certainly  does  not  prove  the  un- 
changeableness  of  the  type  in  any  given  line  of 
successive  individuals.  It  is  premature,  by 
very  many  centuries,  perhaps,  to  assert  that 
this  type  will  not  change  in  such  a  line  of  succes- 
sion, the  individuals  in  which  shall  be  subjected 
for  generation  after  generation  to  new  influences 
of  climate,  soil,  and  mode  of  life.  The  African 
race  in  the  United  States  will  ultimately,  but 
not  in  our  day,  solve  this  problem.  Many  acute 
observers,  as  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  for  example,  are 
confident  that  they  already  see  a  change.  We 
doubt  this:  tor  even   if  a  change  were  in  prog- 


302  COMMON    PARENTAGE    OF 

ress,  it  is  yet  too  soon  to  substantiate  the 
proofs.  But  even  on  the  supposition  of  perfect 
fixedness  of  tj-pe,  the  question  of  origin  is  left 
exactly  where  it  was  before. 

"Well,  then,  this  monumental  argument  not 
availing  the  advocates  of  "  diversity,"  what  re- 
source is  let  them  ?  Why,  absolutely  no  posi- 
tive ground  whatsoever  :  and  the}'  are  driven  to 
the  expedient  of  trying  to  prove  a  negative  for 
each  of  the  positive  arguments  in  favor  of  the 
unity  doctrine  which  they  oppose.  Let  us  sup- 
pose that  they  succeed  in  showing  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  physiological  proof  of  the  unity  of 
man  ;  they  must  then  attack  the  historical  argu- 
ment, the  philological,  the  geological,  and  so  on 
in  succession,  gaining  nothing  of  advantage  un- 
til they  have  overthrown  each  and  every  one. 
And  if  they  succeed  in  all  this, — a  most  violent 
supposition,  truly, — there  yet  remains  as  an 
impregnable  citadel,  that  innate  conviction  of 
brotherhood  which,  in  the  eloquent  language  of 
Agassiz,  "is  but  the  reflection  of  that  Divine 
nature  which  pervades  man's  whole  being."  We 
perceive,  then,  that  success    in  the  task  these 


THE    HUMAN     RACES.  303 

gentlemen  have  assigned  to  themselves  is  mani- 
festly hopeless.  A  failure  at  any  one  step  is 
fatal  ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  they  fail  everywhere. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  proof  of  man's  unity  is 
cumulative.  There  are  various  independent 
proofs.  Each  being  more  or  less  complete  in 
itself,  any  one  would  suffice  to  sustain  the  doc- 
trine we  contend  for.  The  sum  of  all  strength- 
ens belief  into  conviction.  And  when  we  con- 
sider them  in  their  mutual  relations  as  parts  of 
one  whole,  and  all  converging  to  one  common 
and  necessary  conclusion,  further  resistance  be- 
comes irrational  and  further  doubt  absurd.  We 
conclude  our  discussion  of  the  subject  with  a 
passage  from  a  discourse  by  an  eloquent  living 
divine,*  in  which  the  relation  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Unity  of  Mankind  to  the  nature  and  office 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  most  impressively 
set  forth. 

"  The  unity  of  tlie  human  race  must  be  con- 
sidered a  finidamental  and  an  accepted  truth. 
Every  department  of  knowledge  has  been 
searched   for    evidence,  and  all  respond  with   a 

o  Rev.  R.  J.  3rekinridge,  —  "  Discourse  on  the  Black  Race." 


304  C  0  M  xM  0  N    PARENTAGE    OF 

uDi.bnn  testimony.  The  physical  structure, 
constitution  and  habits  of  the  race — the  mode 
in  which  it  is  produced,  in  which  it  exists,  in 
which  it  perishes — everything  that  touches  its 
i!  mere  animal  existence,  demonstrates  the  abso- 
lute certainty  of  its  unity — so  that  no  other 
generalization  of  physiology  is  more  clear  and 
more  sure.  Rising  one  step,  to  the  highest 
manifestation  of  man's  physical  organization — 
his  use  of  language  and  the  power  of  connected 
speech — the  most  profound  survey  of  this  most 
complex  and  tedious  part  of  knowledge,  conducts 
the  inquirer  to  no  conclusion  more  indubitable 
than  that  there  is  a  common  origin,  a  common 
organization,  a  common  nature,  underlying  and 
running  through  this  endless  variety  of  a  com- 
mon power,  peculiar  to  the  race  and  to  it  alone. 
Tliiis  a  second  science — philology — has  borne 
its  marvellous  testimony.  Rising  one  more 
step,  and  passing  more  completely  to  a  higher 
region,  we  find  the  rational  and  moral  nature 
Ijbf  men  of  every  age  and  kindred,  absolutely 
"the  same.  Those  great  faculties  b}^  which  man 
alone — and  yet  by  whicli  (}verv  man — perceives 


THE    HUMAN    RACES.  305 

that  there  is  in  things  that  distinction  which  we 
call  true  and  false,  and  that  other  distinction 
which  we  call  good  and  evil  ;  upon  which  dis- 
tinctions and  which  faculties  rests  at  last  the 
moral  and  intellectual  destiny  of  the  entire  race  ; 
belono-ing  to  us  as  men,  without  which  we  are 
not  men,  with  which  we  are  the  head  of  the 
visible  creation  of  God.  So  has  a  third  science 
— a  science  which  treats  of  the  whole  moral  con- 
stitution of  man,  embracing  in  its  wide  scope 
many  subordinate  sciences — delivered  its  testi- 
mony. If  we  rise  another  step,  and  survey 
man  as  he  is  gathered  into  families,  and  tribes, 
and  nations,  with  an  endless  variety  of  develop- 
ment, we  still  behold  the  broad  foundations  of  a 
common  nature  reposing  under  all — the  grand 
principles  of  a  common  being  ruling  in  the 
midst  of  all.  So  a  fourth,  and  the  youngest  of 
the  sciences — ethnology  —  brings  her  tribute, 
.^nd  now,  from  this  lofty  summit,  survey  the 
whole  track  of  ages.  In  their  length  and  in 
tlieir  breadth,  scrutinize  the  recorded  annals  of 
mankind.    There  is  not  one  page  on  which  one 


306  CO  M  M  0  X   F  A  i;  i:  x  t  age  of 

fact  is  written — which  favors  the  historical  idea 
of  a  diversity  of  nature  or  origin — while  the 
whole  scope  of  human  story  involves,  assumes, 
and  proclaims,  as  the  first  and  grandest  historic 
truth,  the   absolute   unity  of  the   race.      And 
then,  mounting  from  earth  to  heaven,  ask  God 
— the  God  of  truth,  and  he  will  tell  you,  that 
the  foundation  truth  of  all  his  work  of  creation 
and  of  providence  is  the  sublime  certainty  that 
our  race  was  created  in  his  own  image,  and  of 
one    blood  ;    and    thereupon,    when    they   had 
fallen,  he  offered  to  them  a  common  salvation, 
through  his  only  begotten  Son,  made  manifest 
in  their  common  nature. 

"  A  bond  of  common  brotherhood  unites 
every  portion  of  the  race  ;  it  is  felt  the  most 
keenly  by  those  who  are  the  most  exalted  ;  and 
even  in  the  most  abject,  its  weak  pulsations 
will  still  live  to  attest  the  depth  of  the  truth, 
that  our  race  is  one.  It  is  in  the  life  and  doc- 
trine of  Jesus  Christ  that  this  profound  instinct 
of  human  nature  finds  itself  exalted  into  one  of 
the  grandest  truths  of  religion,   and  invested 


THE     H  U  AI  A  N     R  A  C  E  S  .  307 

with  the  sanction  of  heaven.  In  Him,  the  con- 
ception of  this  universal  brotherhood, — which 
nature  teaclies,  and  all  knowledge  fortifies, — 
becomes  a  precious,  living  truth" 


APPENDIX. 


Note  to  Page  36. 

"  The  causes  which  give  rise  to  the  varieties  of  spe- 
cies,  says    Prof.  J.  Miiller,   of  Berlin,   the  first,  per- 
haps, of  living  physiologists,  "  are  partly  seated  in  the 
organisms  of  the  animals  themselves,  and  partly  ex- 
ternal conditions,  such  as  the  food,  the  elevation  above 
the  sea,  and  the  climate.     Each  species  of  plants  and 
animals  possesses  within   itself  a  power  of  variation 
within  a  certain  limit,  quite  independently  of  any  ex- 
ternal influences.     To  this  cause  are  to  be  referred  the 
varieties  of  form  which  may  present  themselves  in  the 
offspring  of  one  act  of  generation.     In   each  individ- 
ual of  a  species  there  is  an   innate  capability  of  pro- 
ducing such  varieties  as  these,  since  each  individual  of 
a  species  does  not  produce  by  generation  the  mere  rep- 
etition of  itself,  but  generates  the  new  beings  in  ac- 
cordance with  laws  which  regulate  the  whole  species. 
Thus  from  the  same  parents  there  may  be  produced 
individuals  with  fair  and  others  with  dark  hair ;  some 
of  spare  and  slender  figure,  and  others  of  plump  and 
stout  robust  form  ;  individuals  of  different  tempera- 
ments,  and    with  ditTerent  features,  eyes,  mouth,  and 
nose,  with  hair  in  eome  instances   curly,  and  in  others 
straight.     The   n:o.-t  common  varieties  arising  in  this 

[309] 


310  A  I'  r  r:  .\  d  i  x 


way  from  internal  causes,  arc  the  fair  and  the  dark 
haired.      Fair    persons    are    occasionally    met    with 
amongst  races  for  the  most  part  characterized  by  black 
hair, — for  example,  amongst  the  Mongolians;  and  Dr. 
Prichard  adduces  several  examples  of  fair-complexion- 
ed  negroes  who  were  not  albinos.     It  is  true  that  these 
varieties  are  chiefly  due  to  the  parents  being  indiAnd- 
uals  of  diiferent  complexions,  and  to  the  characteris- 
tics sometimes  of  one  and  sometimes  of  the  other  be- 
ing predominant  in  the  offspring.     But  even  when  the 
parents  have  the  same  complexion,  a  certain  variety  of 
forms  and  internal  properties  may  present  itself  in  the 
offspring.     In  consequence  of  the  mingling  of  these 
different  varieties  in  marriage,  their  peculiarities  are 
not  preserved  and  are  not  propngated  as  constant,  fix- 
ed types.     It  is  easy  to  conceive  the  conditions  which 
must  be  combined  in  order,  independently  of  climate, 
food  and  locality,  to  convert  these  accidental  varieties 
into  persistent  types.     The  longer  individuals  of  the 
same  stock  continue  to  unite  in  marriage,  without  for- 
eign admixture,  the  longer  will  the  type  to  which  they 
belong  be  preserved.     In  this  ivay,  and  independently 
of  all  external  influences,  a  race   will  he  formed.     Some- 
times when  the  type  has  become  fixed  through  a  se- 
ries of  generations  in  the  members  of  a  family,  even 
the  admixture  of  a  foreign  type  is  not  sufficient  to  ef- 
face the  fixed  characters  of  a  family,  and  the  foreign 
element  becomes  lost  in  the  older  fixed  type.     Hence 
we  see  in  many  royal  families,  that  in   spite  of  their 
union  by  marriage  with  other  houses,  the  type  of  the 
family  features  is  in  a  remarkable  Avay  preserved,  and 
transmitted  from  generation  to  generation — as,  for  ex- 
ample, in  the  Bourbon  family,  and  equally  in  many 
princely  houses  of  Germany.     It  was  previously  shown 
how  one  family,  being  isolated  by  the  intermarrying  of 
its  members  exclusively,  with  each  other,  might  pro- 
duce  a   nation   or  tribe  with   general  distinguishing 
oliaraeter.     History  teaches  us  how  the  national  type 


A  r  P  E  N  P  I  X  ,  311 

once  formed  is  preserved  in  spite  of  individual  varia- 
tions through  thousands  of  years,  and  that,  except 
when  niodihed  by  admixture  with  other  types,  it  is 
maintained  unchanged." — J.  Midler ^  Elements  of  Phys- 
iology.    Translated  hy  W  Baly.     London^  1842. 


312  APPENDIX. 


15. 

Note  to  Page  58. 

Although  the  facts  and  authorities  cited  in  the  text 
amply  suffice  to  sustain  the  doctrine  of  permanent 
varieties  within  the  Hmits  of  a  single  species,  we  can- 
not deny  ourselves  the  satisfaction  of  referring  to  a 
more  recent  authority — not  accessible  to  us  at  the  date 
of  the  first  publication  of  this  essay  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Quarterly  Ecview — we  allude  to  a  treatise 
"  On  the  Variation  of  Species,"  by  T.  Vernon 
Wollaston,  M.  A.,  F.  L.  S.  Adverting  to  the  tendency, 
manifested  in  certain  quarters,  to  regard  every  differ- 
ence, if  at  all  permanent,  as  a  specific  one,  this  emi- 
nent naturalist  considers  '*  that  a  revival  of  our  first 
principles  is  occasionally  necessary,  if  we  would  not 
restrict  (however  gradually  and  imperceptibly)  that 
legitimate  freedom  which  nature  has  had  chalked  out 
for  her  to  sport  in,  or  strive  to  impose  laws  of  limita- 
tion in  one  department  which  we  do  not  admit  to  be 
coercive  in  another."  He  shows  that  the /ac^  of  varia- 
tion, besides  being  probable  on  the  ground  of  analog3% 
is  demonstrated  by  experience,  and  then  proceeds  to 
inquire  into  the  causes  of  variation.  These  and  cer- 
tain collateral  questions  having  been  investigated  in  a 
masterly  manner,  he  warns  the  reader,  upon  concluding, 
that  it  is  merely  loithiu  specijic  bounds  that  he  would 
advocate  a  freedom  of  development  in  obedience  to  in- 
fluence from  without;  and  conclusively  shows  that  the 
ehanare,  sometimes  brought  against  the  advocates  of 
variation,  of  a  leaning  to  Lamarck's  transmutation 
theory,  is  most  unwarrantable,  and  that,  on  the  con- 


APPENDIX.  313 

trarj,  the  actual  reverse  is  nearer  the  truth.  For 
"  those  very  hyper- accurate  defiuers  who  recognize  a 
'  species '  wheresoever  the  minutest  discrepancj^  is 
shadowed  forth,  will  be  found  eventually  (however 
unaware  of  it  themselves)  to  have  been  the  most  deter- 
mined abettors  of  that  dogma — seeing  that  their  species, 
if  such  they  be,  do  most  assuredly  pass  into  each 
other."  We  have  not  the  means  of  knowing  whether 
the  able  and  learned  author  had  especial  reference  to 
the  argument  of  Prof.  Agassiz,  who,  in  his  "  Sketch  of 
the  Natural  Provinces  of  the  Animal  World"  (Types 
of  Mankind,  by  ISTott  &  Gliddon)  charges  most  pre- 
posterously that  the  doctrine  of  the  specific  unity  of 
the  human  races  "runs  inevitably  into  the Lamarckian 
development  theory,"  but  we  are  fully  satisfied  with 
his  summary  way  of  disposing  of  the  charge  by  whom- 
soever preferred,  and  of  indicating  an  easy  method  of 
retort.  His  own  opinions,  respecting  the  fixedness  of 
species  as  com.patible  with  the  fact  of  variation,  are 
thus  expressed  in  the  last  paragraph  of  his  instructive 
little  treatise.  "But,  whatever.be  the  several  ranges 
within  which  the  members  of  the  oi'ganic  creation  are 
free  to  vary,  we  are  positively  certain  that,  unless  the 
definition  of  a  species,  as  mvolving  relationship,  is  no 
more  than,  a  delusion  or  romance,  their  circumferences 
are  of  necessity  real,  and  must  be  indicated  somewhere 
— as  strictly,  moreover,  and  rigidly,  as  it  is  possible 
for  anything  in  nature  to  be  chalked  out.  The  whole 
]iroblem,  in  that  case,  does  in  effect  resolve  itself  to 
this — where,  and  how,  are  the  lines  of  demarcation  to 
l>e  drawn?  No  amount  of  inconstancy,  provided  its 
limits  bi  fixed,  is  irreconcilable  with  the  doctrine  of  specific 
similitudes.  Like  the  ever-shifting  curves  which  the 
white  foam  of  the  nntiring  tide  describes  upon  the 
shore,  races  may  ebb  and  flow  ;  but  they  have  their 
l:>oundaries  in  cither  direction,  beyond  which  they  can 
never  pass.  And  thus  in  every  species  we  may  detect, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  emblem  of  instability 
14 


314  APPENDIX. 

and  permanence  combined.  Althougli  perceived, 
when  inquired  into,  to  be  fickle  and  fluctuating  in  their 
component  parts,  in  their  general  outline  they  remain 
steadfast  and  unaltered,  as  of  old — 

Still  cbanging,  yet  unclianged  ;  still  doomed  to  feel 
Endless  mutation,  in  perpetual  rest," 

The  Westminster  Eeview  (January,  1857,  p.  154,)  pre- 
faces a  highly  commendatory  notice  of  Mr.  Wollas- 
toa's  little  volume  with  the  following  pertinent  re- 
marks: "An  opinion  is  gradually  extending  amongst 
those  naturalists  who  look  beneath  the  surface  of  their 
pursuit,  that  species-making  has  been  carried  both  by 
botanists  and  zoologists,  to  far  too  great  an  extent ;  and 
that  the  whole  subject  of  the  influence  of  climate, 
habits  of  life,  and  other  external  conditions,  as  well  as 
of  the  capacity  for  variation  inherent  in  each  type  of 
form,  requires  a  thorough  reinvestigation.  Thus  Dr. 
Jos.  D.  Hooker,  in  his  "  Introductory  Essay  on  the 
Flora  of  New  Zealand,"  has  recently  well  remarked, 
that  "the  naturalist  who  has  the  true  interest  of  sci- 
ence at  heart,  not  only  feels  that  the  thrusting  of  an 
uncalled  for  synonym  into  the  nomenclature  of  science 
is  an  exposure  of  his  own  ignorance,  and  deserves 
censure,  but  that  a  wider  range  of  knowledge  and  a 
greater  depth  of  study  are  required  to  prove  those  dis- 
similar forms  to  be  identi(;al  which  any  superficial  ob- 
server can  separate  by  words  and  a  name."  In  the 
same  essay,  this  accomplished  botanist  expresses  the 
opinion  that  the  reported  number  of  100,000  distinct 
species  of  flowering  plants  will  be  reduced  at  least  one 
half  by  the  careful  com})arisou  of  the  Floras  of  differ- 
ent countries.  In  the  annual  address  to  the  Micro- 
scopical Society  given  almost  contemporaneously  (Feb- 
ruary, 1855,)  by  its  then  President,  Dr.  Carpenter,  a 
similar  doctrine  was  expressed  in  almost  identical 
terms ;  and  we  are  glad  to  find  that  Mr.  Wollaston, 


APPENDIX.  315 

the  accomplished  author  of  the  "  Insecta  Maderensia," 
has  made  it  a  special  object  of  inquiry  during  his  res- 
idence in  the  Madeira  Islands," "  We  can  cor- 
dially recommend  tlie  perusal  of  his  little  volume  to 
every  naturalist,  whatever  may  be  his  special  object 
of  pursuit,  who  aims  to  exercise  his  intellect  by  grap- 
pling with  those  higher  problems  of  the  science  which 
seem  to  us  to  be  at  least  as  serviceable  for  the  culture 
and  discipline  of  the  mind  as  the  abstractions  of 
mathematics,  or  the  barren  investigation  of  what  is 
par  excellence  designated  as  'scholarship,' as  if  there 
was  nothing  in  the  volume  of  creation  worthy  to  ex- 
-ercise  the  higher  faculties  of  the  human  intellect." 

In  like  manner  Prof.  Dana,  of  Yale  College,  has 
clearly  shown  that  liability  to  variation  is  not  only 
not  inconsistent  with  the  permanence  of  species,  but  is 
in  fact  "  j^art  of  the  law  of  species." 

He  first  shews  that  in  the  inorganic  world  "  each  ele- 
ment is  represented  by  a  specific  amount  or  law^  of  force, 
and  that  we  even  set  down  in  numbers  the  precise  value 
of  this  force  as  regards  one  of  the  deepest  of  its  qualities, 
chemical  attraction,''  and  then,  turning  to  the  organic 
world,  deduces  the  same  idea  as  essential  to  species, 
from  the  following  considerations:  "The  individual  is 
involved  in  the  germ-cell  from  which  it  proceeds.  That 
cell  possesses  certain  inherent  qualities  or  powers, 
bearing  a  definite  relation  to  external  nature,  so  that 
when  having  its  appropriate  nidus  or  surrounding  con- 
ditions, it  will  grow,  and  develop  out  each  organ  and 
member  to  the  completed  result ;  and  this,  both  as  to 
chemical  changes,  and  the  evolution  of  the  structure 
which  belongs  to  it  as  subordinate  to  some  kingdom, 
class,  order,  genus  and  species  in  nature.  The  germ- 
cell  of  an  organic  being  develops  a  specific  result; 
and  like  the  molecule  of  oxygen  it  must  correspond 
to  a  measured  quota  or  specific  law  of  force.  We  can- 
not, indeed,  apply  the  measure,  as  in  the  inorganic  king- 
dom, for  we  have  learned  no  method  or  unit  of  com- 
parison.     But   it   must  nevertheless  be   truej  that   a 


316  APPENDIX. 

specific  prcdetcriiiiiRd  amount,  or  condition,  or  law  of 
force  is  an  equivalent  of  every  germ-cell  in  the  king- 
doms of  life.  We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  is 
but  one  kind  of  force;  but  that  whatever  the  kind  or 
kinds,  it  has  a  numerical  value  or  laAV,  although 
human  arithmetic  may  never  give  it  expietsion.  A 
species  among  living  beings,  then,  as  well  as  among 
inorganic  bodies,  is  based  on  a  specific  amount  or  con- 
dition of  concentred  force  defined  in  the  act  or  law  of 
creation.'''' 

"  What  now,"  he  asks,  "may  we  infer  with  regard 
to  the  permanence  or  fixedness  of  species  from  a  gen- 
eral survey  of  nature  ?  Let  us  turn  again  to  the  inor- 
ganic world.  Do  we  there  find  oxygen  blending  by 
indefinite  shadings  with  hydrogen  or  with  any  other 
element  ?  Is  its  combining  number,  its  potential 
equivalent,  a  varying  numbci-,  usuallj^  8,  but  at  times 
8  and  a  fraction,  9,  and  so  on  ?  Far  from  this  ;  the 
number  is  as  fixed  as  the  universe.  There  are  no  in- 
definite blendings  of  elements.  There  are  conibina- 
tions  by  multiples  and  sub-multiples,  but  these  prove 
the  dominance  and  fixedness  of  the  combininti;  num- 
bers. .  .  .  This  being  true  for  inorganic  nature,  it  is 
necessarily  the  law  for  all  nature,  for  the  ideas  that 
pervade  the  universe  are  not  ideas  of  central  iety  but 
of  unity  and  universality  beneath  and  through  diver- 
sity. The  units  of  the  inorganic  woiid,  are  the 
weighed  elements  and  tlieirdefinile  compcninds  or  their 
molecules.  The  units  of  the  organic  world  are  species^ 
which  exhibit  themselves  in  their  simplest  condition 
in  the  germ-cell  state.  The  kingdoms  of  life  in  all  their 
magnificent  proportions  are  made  fi-om  these  units. 
W^ere  these  units  caj^able  of  blending  with  one  another 
indefinitely,  they  would  no  longer  be  units,  and  species 
could  not  be  recognized.  The  system  of  life  would  be 
a  maze  of  complexities  ;  and  whatever  is  grandeur  to 
a  being  that  Could  comprehend  the  infinite,  it  would  be 
unintelligible  chaos  to  man." 


APPENDIX.  317 

After  adverting  to  the  fact  that  everywhere  in  nature 
"the  purity  of  species  has  been  guarded  with  great 
precision,"  and  adducing  proofs  which  we  shall  quote 
in  another  connexion,  he  proceeds  to  consider  the 
variations  of  species.  The  principles  j  ust  laid  down 
tcacli  that  each  species  has  its  specific  value  as  a  unit, 
whicli  is  essentially  permanent  or  indestructible  by  any 
natural  source  of  change ;  and  therefore,  that  variations 
have  their  limits,  and  cannot  extend  to  the  obliteration 
of  the  fundamental  characteristics  of  a  species. 

"Variation  is  a  characteristic  of  all  things  finite, 
and  is  involved  in  the  very  conditions  of  existence. 
No  substance  or  body  can  be  wholly  independent  of 
every  or  any  other  body  in  the  universe.  ,  .  .  All 
the  natural  forces  are  closely  related  as  if  a  common 
family  or  group,  and  are  in  constant  mutual  interplay. 
The  degree  or  kind  of  variation  has  its  specific  law  for 
each  element ;  and  in  this  law  the  specific  nature  of 
the  element  is  in  a  degree  expressed.  There  is  to  each 
body  or  species,  the  normal  or  fundamental  force  in 
which  its  very  nature  consists ;  and,  in  addition,  the 
relation  of  this  force  to  other  bodies,  or  kinds,  amounts, 
or  conditions  of  force,  upon  which  its  variations  de- 
pend. One  great  end  of  inorganic  science  is  to  study 
out  the  law  of  variables  for  each  element  or  species. 
For  this  law  is  as  much  a  part  of  an  idea  of  the  species 
as  the  fundamental  potentiality ;  indeed,  the  one  is  a 
measure  of  the  other. 

"  So  again,  a  species  in  the  organic  kingdoms  is  sub- 
ject to  variations,  and  upon  the  same  principle.  Its 
very  development  depends  on  the  appropriation  of 
material  around  it,  and  on  attending  physical  forces  or 
conditions,  all  of  which  are  variable  through  the  whole 

of  its   history Liability   to   variation  is 

hence  part  of  the  law  of  species;  and  we  cannot  be 
said  to  comprehend  in  any  case  the  complete  idea  of 
the  type  until  the  relations  to  external  forces  are  also 
known.     The  law  of  variables  is  as  much  an  expres- 


318  APPENDIX. 

sion  of  the  fundamental  qualities  of  the  sj^ecies  in  or- 
ganic as  in  inorganic  nature ;  and  it  should  be  the 
great  aim  of  science  to  investigate  it  for  every  species. 
It  is  a  source  of  knowledge  which  will  yet  give  us  a 
deep  insight  into  the  fundamental  laws  of  life.  Varia- 
tions are  not  to  be  arranged  under  the  head  of  accidents ; 
for  there  is  nothing  accidental  in  nature  ;  what  we  so 
call,  are  expressions  really  of  profound  law,  and  often 
betray  truth  and  law  which  we  should  otherwise  never 
suspect.  This  process  of  variation  is  the  external  re- 
vealing the  internal,  through  tlieir  sympathetic  rela- 
tions :  it  is  the  law  of  universal  nature  reacting  on  the 
law  of  special  nature,  and  compelling  the  latter  to  ex- 
hibit its  qualities-,  it  is  a  centre  of  force  manifesting 
its  potentiality,  not  in  its  ow^n  inner  workings,  but  in  its 
outgoings  among  the  equilibrating  forces  around,  and 
thus  offering  us,  through  the  known  and  physical, 
some  measure  of  the  vital  within  the  germ.  It  is 
therefore  one  of  the  richest  sources  of  truth  open  to 
our  search.  The  limits  of  variation,  it  may  be  difficult 
to  define  among  species  that  have  close  relations.  But 
being  sure  that  there  are  limits — that  science,  in  look- 
ing for  law  and  order  written  out  in  legible  characters, 
is  not  in  fruitless  search,  we  need  not  despair  of  dis- 
covering them.  The  zoologist,  gathering  shells  or 
molluscs  from  the  coast  of  Eastern  America  and  that 
of  Japan,  after  careful  study,  makes  out  his  list  of 
identical  species,  with  the  full  assurance  that  species 
are  definite  and  stable  existences."* 


*  BiBLiOTHECA  Sacra — October,  1857.  Thoughts  on  Species,  by  J.  D. 
Dana. 

An  able  writer  in  the  Princeton  Review,  for  January,  1859,  while 
adopting  the  idea  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  Prof.  Dana's  definition 
of  Species  objects  to  the  phraseology  in  which  it  is  expressed.  He 
does  not  approve  of  the  '•  disposition  among  naturalists  to  merge  sub- 
stances into  forces."  "Matter,"' be  urges,  "  however  incapable  of 
definitionor  conception  in  itself  considered  is  not  mere  force."  We 
fully  accept  this  latter  proposition  as  an  undeniable  truth.  We  are, 
moreover,  of  opinion  that  those  naturalists  who  have  speculated  most 


APPENDIX.  319 

largely  on  the  nature  and  correlations  of  forces  have  been  the  least 
disposed  to  substitute  forces  for  substances,  or  to  merge  the  latterinto 
the  former.  On  the  contrary,  by  insisting  upon  the  existence  and  op- 
eration of  the  one  they  have  most  eflectively  exhibited  the  province  of 
the  other  as  a  necessary  medium.  Now.  as  will  be  seen  by  the  fore- 
going citations.  Prof.  Dana  by  no  means  ignores  the  material  germ-ceU 
whicli,  in  developing  a  specihc  result.  "'  must  correspond  to  a  measured 
quota  of  force;"  and  when  he  adds  that  "a  species  its  based  upon  (not  is) 
a  definite  amount  or  condition  of  force  "  the  expression  does  not  seem 
to  be  obnoxious  to  the  objection  urged  by  the  Reviewer. 


320  APPENDIX. 

c. 

Note  to  Page  125. 

To  furnish  such  of  our  readers  as  may  not  have 
access  to  the  works  of  Dr.  Pricharcl  or  those  of  Dr. 
Carpenter,  with  a  specimen  of  the  very  careful  manner 
in  which  they  have  collected  and  analyzed  the  facts  on 
which  the  conclusions  cited  in  the  text  are  based,  we 
will  here  introduce  a  quotation  from  each,  relating, 
one,  to  the  average  duration  of  human  life,  the  other, 
to  the  epoch  of  the  first  menstruation. 

"  The  average  duration  of  human  life  is  nearly  the 
same  in  the  different  races  of  men.  But  in  order  to 
estimate  the  facts  which  bear  upon  this  subject,  an  ac- 
count must  be  taken  of  the  vast  influence  which  climate 
alone  exercises  on  the  rate  of  mortality.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  proportional  number  of  individuals 
who  attain  a  given  age,  differs  in  different  countries ; 
and  that  the  warmer  the  climate,  other  circumstances 
being  equal,  so  much  the  shorter  is  the  average  dura- 
tion of  life.  Even  within  the  limits  of  Europe  the  dif- 
ference is  very  great.  In  some  instances,  according  to 
the  calculations  of  M.  Moreau  de  Jonnes,  the  rate  of 
mortality,  and  inversely  the  duration  of  life,  differ  by 
nearly  one  half  from  the  proportions  discovered  in 
other  examples.  The  following  is  a  brief  extract  from 
a  table  joresented  to  the  Institute  by  this  celebrated 
calculator : 

Table  c.r-i, biting  the  Annual  Mortality  in  different  Countries   in 

Europe. 

In  Sweden,       from  1821  to  1825,        -        -         1 

Prussia,            "     1821  to  1824,     -         -         -     1 

Enoland,            "      1821  to  1831,  (Porter  &  Rickmau)! 

France,            "     1825  to  1827,         -         -          1 

Roman  States,      1829  .        -        -        -       1 

Scotland,  1821 1 

"The  difference  between  twenty-eight  and  fifty  is 


death 

in 

,45 

u 

u 

39 

li 

a 

51 

a 

li 

39.5 

11 

n 

28 

i( 

a 

50 

APPENDIX.  321 

very  considerable ;  but  even  the  latter  rate  of  mortality 
is  considerably  greater  than  that  which  the  data  col- 
lected by  M.  Moreau  de  Jounes  attiibute  to  Iceland, 
Norway  and  the  northern  parts  of  Scotland. 

"  No  adequate  data  have  yet  been  collected  for  esti- 
mating the  comparative  longevity  of  different  races  of 
men,  after  making  suitable  allowances  for  the  influence 
of  climates ;  but  facts  are  easily  to  be  found,  which 
prove  that  no  great  diiference  exists  in  this  respect 
between  the  most  dissimilar  tribes.  It  was  calculated 
by  Bnffon,  with  reference  principally  to  white  men, 
that  a  third  part  of  the  human  race  die  before  the  age 
of  ten  years ;  one  half  before  that  of  thirty -five  ;  two 
thirds  before  fiftj'-two ;  and  three  fourths  before  sixty- 
one  years  of  age.  A  very  different  computation  has 
been  made  by  later  writers.  According  to  Hufeland's 
estimate,  out  of  a  hundred  individuals  born,  fifty  die 
before  their  tenth  year,  and  six  only  live  to  be  above 
the  age  of  sixty. 

"Many  instances  of  longevity  in  Europeans  have 
been  collected  by  Mr.  Easton,  from  whose  work  I  have 
taken  the  first  of  the  following  tables.  He  has  dis- 
covered the  following  numbers  of  persons  who  have 
reached  the  ages  below  stated : 

From  100  to  110,  both  inclusive,        -        -      1,310 

«      110  to  120 267 

"      120  to  130      -        -        -        -        -  84 

"      130  to  140 26 

"      140  to  150 7 

"      150  to  160  -----  3 

"      160  to  170 2 

"      170  to  180  -        ...        -  3 

Instances  of  Longevity  in  Negroes. 
Mallura  Daiiflo,  King  of  Eabbah,  -  -        115 

Eobert  Lynch,  Jamaica,         .  -  .  160 

Catherine  Lopez,  Jamaica,  ...       134 

Margaret  Darby.  Jamaica,     -  -  -  130 

Mulatto  at  Fredcricktown,  N.  A.,  in  1797,  -      180 

Tom,  a  slave  of  Mrs.  Bacon,  South  Carolina,  130 

Joseph  Ban,  Jamaica,  ...  145 

Catherine  Hiatt,  Jamaica.  -  -  -        150 

14*  {Natural  Hisf  -f  ""—  --  ""^^    "''"  ^ 


322  APPENDIX. 

In  his  "  Physical  Ilistorj^  of  Manlviiid,"  Dr.  Prichard 
shows  that  similar  instances  of  longevity  occur  among 
the  other  races.  He  denies  the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Rush's 
statement,  that  longevity  is  more  rare  among  the 
Indians  of  North  America  than  among  white  people, 
except  when  the  lower  longevity  is  plainl}-  attributable 
to  accidental  causes,  and  to  the  peculiar  state  of  certain 
tribes,  from  whom,  perhaps.  Dr.  Rush's  information 
was  derived. 

Don  Felix  de  Azara  seems  to  have  formed  this 
opinion  of  the  natives  of  South  America,  In  describing 
the  Charruas  of  Paraguay,  he  says  that  they  never  lose 
their  hair,  which  only  becomes  grey  by  half  in  persons 
aged  about  eighty  years. 

The  Mexicans,  says  Clavigero,  become  grey-headed 
and  bald  earlier  tlian  the  Spaniards;  and  although 
most  of  them  die  of  acute  diseases,  it  is  not  very  un- 
common among  them  to  attain  to  the  age  of  a  hundred 
^^ears. 

We  have  a  similar  observation  from  M.  de  Humboldt 
respecting  the  native  Americans.  He  says,  "  It  is  by 
no  means  uncommon  to  see  at  Mexico,  in  the  temper- 
ate zone,  half  way  up  the  Cordillera,  natives,  and  es- 
l)ecially  women,  reach  a  hundred  years  of  age.  This 
old  age  is  generally  comfoitable ;  for  the  Mexican  and 
Peruvian  Indians  preserve  their  strength  to  the  last. 
While  I  was  was  at  Lima,  the  Indian,  Ililario  Pari,  died 
at  the  village  of  Cliiquata,  four  leagues  distant  from  thq 
town  of  Arequipa,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  forty- 
three.  He  had  been  united  in  marriage  for  ninety 
years  to  an  Indian  of  the  name  of  Andrea  Alea  Zar, 
who  attained  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen. 
This  old  Peruvian  went,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty,  from  three  to  four  leagues  daily,  on  foot."  He 
then  cites  instances  occurring  among  the  Laplanders, 
and  concludes,  on  the  whole,  that  there  are  not  any 
well-marked  differences  in  respect  to  longevity  between 
the  different  races  of  men,  which  can  furnish  a  constant 


APPENDIX.  323 

cliaractei'.  "It  would  appear  that  the  same  law,  as  to 
the  duration  of  life,  has  been  imposed  by  Providence 
on  all  nations  of  men.  In  this  point  of  view  they  ap- 
pear as  one  species.  Even  in  different  climates  the  ten.' 
dency  to  exist  for  a  given  time  is  the  same  ;  the  duration 
of  life  varies  only  from  the  circumstance,  that  the  ex- 
ternal causes  which  bring  about  an  accidental  and 
premature  catastrophe,  or  which  wear  out  the  health 
and  impair  the  bodily  frame,  are  more  rife  or  more 
potent  in  one  climate  than  in  another." — {Nat.  History 
of  Man,  p.  483.) 

The  other  point  in  regard  to  which  we  have  proposed 
to  cite  statistical  evidence,  has  respect  to  the  epoch  oj 
the  first  menstruation.  On  this  subject,  says  Dr.  Car- 
penter (Cyclopfedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  vol. 
iv.,  pp.  1389,  1340),  "  an  inquiry  has  been  most  in- 
dustriously prosecuted  by  Mr.  Robekton  ;  and  its 
results,  published  from  time  to  time,  as  they  were  ob- 
tained, have  been  lately  collected  in  a  form  which 
admits  of  easy  comparison. — {Essays  and  Notes  on  the 
Physiology  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  on  Practical 
Midivifry.  8vo,  London,  1851.)  It  appears,  from  the 
evidence  which  he  has  brought  together,  that  there  is 
no  considerable  difference  either  in  the  average  period 
of  puberty,  or  in  the  earliest  date  of  menstruation, 
among  the  greater  number  of  tribes  who  are  scattered 
over  the  whole  of  the  habitable  globe,  from  the  equa- 
torial to  the  polar  regions,  and  that  neither  has  a  cold 
climate  that  influence  in  retarding  it,  nor  a  warm  one 
in  accelerating  it,  which  is  popularly  attributable  to 
these  agencies  respectively.  The  only  well-marked 
exception  to  this  general  rule,  occurs  in  the  case  of  the 
Hindoo  females,  among  whom  the  first  menstruation, 
on  the  average,  is  about  two  years  earlier  than  in  this 
country  (England).  But  this  only  arises  from  the  fact 
ihat  a  larger  jfioporiion  of  first  menstruations  among 
Hindoo  females,  takes  place  in  the  earlier  years  of  that 
period  over  which  the  commencement  of  puberty   is 


324  APPENDIX. 

distributed  in  European  females,  the  distribution  in  the 
latter  being  more  equable,  as  will  be  seen  by  tlie  fol- 
lowing table,  furnished  by  Mr.  Eoberton : 


iges. 

Hindustan. 

Englai 

8  - 

3 



9 

-   8 

14 

10  - 

18 

55 

11 

-  80 

77 

12  - 

-   145 

142 

13 

-  139 

-   263 

14  - 

-   105 

396 

15 

-  45 

-   417 

16  - 

24 

340 

17 

-  18 

-   215 

18  - 

5 

138 

19 

-   3 

65 

20  - 

1 

33 

21 

-   2 

9 

22  - 

— 

4 

23 

-   1 

1 

597  2,169 

While  the  average  age  of  puberty  in  the  Hindoo 
female  is  thirteen  years,  and  in  the  British  fourteen 
years  and  eleven  months,  the  per  centage  of  menstrua- 
tions under  eleven  j^ears  is  nearly  the  same  in  both 
countries,  so  that  the  current  idea  of  the  very  earl// 
puberty  of  Hindoo  females  is  quite  incorrect;  and  the 
difference  in  the  average  arises  solely  from  the  fact, 
that  the  greatest  number  of  first  menstruations  occur 
among  Hindoo  females  in  the  12th,  13th  and  14th 
years,  whilst  among  the  females  of  this  country  the 
larger  proportion  presents  itself  in  the  14th,  15th  and 
16th  years."  After  showing  that  this  difference  cannot 
be  owing  to  climate,  for  the  West  Indian  Islands  have 
a  higher  mean  annual  temperature  than  Calcutta  and 
the  Dekhau,  Mr.  Eoberton  ascribes  it,  with  great  show 
of  reason,  to  the  early  marriages  in  Hindustan,  it  being 
a  law  of  the  Shastras  that  females  shall  be  given  in 
marriage  hefo7-e  the  occurrence  of  menstruation.  It  can 
scarcely  be  questioned  that  sucli  a  premature  sexual 


A  p  r  E  N  D I  X  .  325 

excitement  will  have  a  lendency  to  accelerate  the  epoch 
of  puberty;  and  that  when  this  is  constantly  acting 
through  a  long  succession  of  generations,  an  eaiij 
]u^berty  may  come  to  be  a  character  of  race.  Again, 
''  when  it  is  recollected,"  says  Mr.  Koberton,  "that  the 
consummation  of  marriage  among  the  Hindoos  has 
taken  place,  at  the  latest,  on  the  arrival  at  puberty, 
during  a  lapse  of  more  than  three  thousand  years,  and 
that  the  practice  is  sanctioned  b}'  ancient  laws  and 
consecrated  by  custom,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that  those 
females  who  were  latest  in  reaching  puberty  would  be 
the  least  sought  after  for  wives — that  such  women 
wonld  not  be  unlikely  in  many  instances  to  remain 
unmarried — and  that  thus  Hindoo  women  would  grad- 
ually come  to  consist,  in  a  proportion  different  from 
that  in  Europe  or  elsewhere,  of  such  as  by  constitution 
are  early  nubile.  To  me  there  seems  nothing  extrav- 
agant or  far  fetched  in  this  supposition.  The  produc- 
tion of  a  like  state  of  things  in  England,  in  any  par- 
ticular district,  is  quite  conceivable.  Nothing  is  bettei 
established,  than  that  early  or  late  puberty  is  a  flimily 
peculiarity.  Let  us,  then,  only  suppose  families,  pos- 
sessing this  kind  of  constitution,  to  intermarry,  and  the 
peculiarity  in  question  would  be  propagated,  extended, 
and  transmitted;  and  so  a  race,  distinguished  by  it, 
would  be  produced," — (Op.  cit.,  p.  129.)  "It  is  a  jus- 
tification of  this  view,"  adds  Dr.  Carpenter,  "that  the 
mean  age  of  puberty  should  differ  in  Bengal,  and  the 
Dekhan,  to  the  extent  of  nearly  a  year,  being  twelve 
years  six  months  in  the  former  province,  and  thirteen 
years  five  months  in  the  latter,  notwithstanding  its 
warmer  latitude ;  for  although  formal  marriages  take 
place  at  a  very  early  age  throughout  India,  the  custom 
is  so  ftir  modified  in  the  Dekhan,  that  consummation  is 
not  effected  until  after  the  first  menstruation  has  ap- 
peared."— (Op.  cit.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  1340.) 


326  APPENDIX 


Note  to  Page  155. 

Speaking  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  Marquis  de 
I'Hopital,  himself  a  great  contemporary  mathemati- 
cian, asked:  "Does  he  eat,  and  drink,  and  sleep  like 
other  peo})le  ?  I  represent  him  to  myself  as  a  celestial 
genius,  entirely  disengaged  from  matter."  Can  such  a 
"celestial  genius,"  one  may  reasonably  ask,  "be  of  the 
same  original  parentage  with  the  Bushman,  who  lives 
in  holes  and  caves,  and  devours  ants'  eggs,  locusts  and 
snakes?"  "Can  the  Quniqua  or  Saboo,  whose  lan- 
guage is  described  as  consisting  of  certain  snapping, 
hissing,  granting  sounds,  all  more  or  less  nasal,  be  of 
the  same  descent  as  those  whose  eloquent  voices  'ful- 
mined  over  Greece'  or  shook  the  Roman  Forum  ?  " 

It  should  not  surj^rise  us  that  when  we  contemplate 
exclusively  the  patent  diversities  of  races  and  over- 
look the  less  obvious  but  more  significant  evidences  of 
a  common  nature,  we  should  shrink  from  the  conclu- 
sion to  which  a  deeper  insight  into  the  facts  must  yet 
inevitabl}^  conduct  us.  We  have  cited  in  the  body  of 
this  essay  facts  whicli  illustrate  the  argument  in  favor  of 
the  specific  identity  of  diverse  races,  based  upon  a  rigid 
analysis  of  their  mental  and  moral  manifestations,  and 
shewing  that  these  may  be  traced  to  the  powers  with 
which  all  men  are  endowed,  however  imperfectly  they 
may  be  developed  in  some  of  the  savage  tribes.  An- 
other mode  of  proof  consists  in  demonsti-ating  the 
possibility  of  the  mutual  conversion,  within  certain 
limits,  of  the  higher  and  lower  states  of  humanity. 
Dr.  Carpenter  has  pointed  .out  a  very  striking  ex- 
ample of  the  near  affinity  which  may  exist  between  the 


^tSt   LIBff^ 


APPENDIX.        %lfl^327^ 

most  degraded  "  outcasts  of  humanity,  and  races  con- 
siderably advanced  in  civilization  and  intelligence. 
We  refer  to  "  the  relationshi])  of  the  Bushman  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  to  the  Hottentot  population  who 
tenanted  that  region  previously  to  the  arrival  of  the 
European  colonists."  The  following  is  a  graphic  ac- 
count given  of  them  by  one  who  has  had  ample  op- 
portunities of  observation:  "The  residence  of  the 
Bushman  is  still  amongst  inaccessible  hills,  in  the 
rude  cave  or  cleft  of  the  rock — on  the  level  karroo,  in 
the  shallow  burrow,  scooped  out  with  a  stick,  and 
sheltered  with  a  frail  mat.  He  still,  with  deadly  effect, 
draws  his  diminutive  bow  and  shoots  his  poisoned  ar- 
rows against  man  and  beast.  Disdaining  labor  of  any 
kind,  he  seizes  when  he  can  on  the  farmer's  herds  and 
flocks,  recklessly  destroys  what  he  cannot  devour, 
wallows  for  consecutive  d:iys  with  vultures  and  jack- 
als amidst  the  carcasses  of  the  slain,  and,  when  fully 
gorged  to  the  throat,  slumbers  in  lethargic  stupor  like 
a  wild  beast,  till,  aroused  by  hunger,  he  is  compelled 
to  wander  forth  again  in  quest  of  prey.  When  he 
cannot  plunder  cattle,  he  eagerly  pursues  the  denizens 
of  the  waste,  feasts  indiflferenth^  on  the  lion  or  the 
hedgehog,  and  failing  such  dainty  morsels,  philosoph- 
ically contents  himself  with  roots,  bulbs,  locusts,  ants, 
piec3s  of  hide  steeped  in  water,  or,  as  a  last  re- 
source, he  tightens  his  'girdle  of  famine,'  and,  as 
Pringle  says — • 

"  '  He  lays  him  down,  to  sleep  away, 
In  languid  trance,  the  weary  day.'  " 

"  Whether  this  precarious  mode  of  existence  may  or 
may  not,  have  influenced  the  personal  appearance  and 
stature  of  the  Bushman  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  a 
more  wretched-looking  set  of  beings  cannot  easily  be 
imagined.  The  average  hoight  of  the  men  is  consider- 
ably under  five  feet,  tliat  of  the  women  little  exceed- 


328  APPENDIX. 

ing  four.  I'heir  shameless  state  of  nearly  complete 
nudity,  their  brutalized  habits  of  voracity,  filth,  and 
cruelty  of  disposition,  appear  to  place  them  completely 
on  a  level  Avith  the  brute  creation,  Avhilst  the  'click- 
ing' tones  of  a  language,  composed  of  the  most  unpro- 
nounceable and  discordant  noises,  more  resemble  the 
jabbering  of  apes  than  sounds  uttered  by  human  be- 
ings."* 

"  Now,  there  is  ample  evidence  that  the  Cape  Bush- 
men are  a  degraded  caste  of  the  Hottentot  race.  They 
agree  with  the  Hottentots  in  all  the  peculiarities  of 
physiognomy^,  cranial  conformation,  etc.,  by  which  the 
latter  are  characterized ;  and  a  careful  comparison  of 
the  languages  of  the  two  races  has  shown  that  there 
is  an  essential  affinity  between  them.  It  has  been  as- 
certained by  Dr.  Andrew  Smith,  tliat  many  of  the 
Bushman  hordes  vary  their  speech  designedly,  by 
affecting  a  singular  mode  of  utterance,  (employing  the 
peculiar  clapping  or  clicking  of  the  tongue,  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  Hottentot  language,  so  incessantly, 
that  they  seem  to  be  giving  utterance  to  a  jargon  con- 
sisting of  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  claps,)  and 
even  adopting  new  words,  in  order  to  make  their  mean- 
ing unintelligible  to  all  but  the  members  of  their  own 
community.  According  to  the  same  authority,  nearly 
all  the  South  African  tribes  who  have  made  any  ad- 
vances in  civilization,  are  surrounded  by  more  barba- 
rous hordes,  whose  abodes  arc  in  the  wilderness  and  in 
the  fastnesses  of  mountains  and  forests,  and  who  con- 
stantly recruit  their  numbers  by  such  fugitives  as 
crime  and  destitution  may  have  driven  from  their  own 
more  honest  and  thriving  communities.  In  this  man- 
ner it  has  happened  that  within  a  comparatively  recent 
period  many  tribes  of  Hottentots  have  been  degraded 
into  Bushmen,  through  the  oppressions  to  which  they 
have  been  subjected  at  the  hands  of  their  more  civil- 

• 

*  Lieut.  Col.  E.  E.  Napier's  Excursions  in  Southern  Africa. 


APPENDIX.  329 

ized  neighbors.  Now,  altliougli  of  the  Hottentots 
themselves  we  are  accustomed  to  form  a  very  low  esti- 
mate,— our  ideas  of  them  having  been  chiefly  derived 
from  the  intercourse  of  the  Cape  settlers  with  the 
tribes  which  have  been  their  nearest  neighbors,  and 
which  have  unfortunately  undergone  that  deterioration 
which  is  so  often  found  to  be  the  first  result  of  the 
contact  of  civilized  with  comparatively  savage  na- 
tions,— it  appears  from  the  accounts  of  them  given  by 
Dutch  writers  at  the  time  of  the  first  settlement  of  the 
Cape,  that  they  were  a  people  considerably  advanced 
in  civilization,  and  possessed  of  many  estimable  quali- 
ties. 

"  The  testimony  of  Lieut.  Col.  Napier  is  very  strong 
as  to  their  merits  as  soldiers  when  officered  by  Euro- 
peans. It  has  been  frequently  said  that  the  Hottentots 
differ  from  the  higher  races,  in  their  incapacity  to  form 
or  to  receive  religious  ideas.  This  is,  however,  by  no 
means  true.  The  early  Dutch  settlers  describe  them 
as  having  a  definite  relio-ion  of  their  own;  and  it  was 
their  obstinate  adhesion  to  this  which  was  the  real  ob- 
stacle to  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among  them. 
AVhen  the  attempt  was  perseveringly  made  and  rightly 
directed,  the  Hottentot  nation  lent  a  more  willing  ear 
than  any  other  race  in  a  similar  condition  has  done  to 
the  preaching  of  Christianity ;  and  no  people  has  been 
more  strikingly  and  speedily  improved  by  its  recep- 
tion."    {W.B.  Carpenter,  hoc.  Git,  p.  1342.) 

Dr.  Peichaed  also  makes  similar  statements,  on  the 
authority  of  the  Dutch  voj'ager  Kolben,  respecting  the 
intelligence,  fid^iity  and  amiability  of  the  Hottentots 
at  the  time  of  the  first  settlement  of  the  Dutch  colony. 
Ho  fui-ther  quotes  an  account  of  a  Hottentot  boy,  who 
w;is  bred  up  by  the  Governor  Vander  Stel,  in  the 
habits  and  religion  of  the  Dutch,  but  who,  subse- 
quently, after  his  return  to  the  Cape,  stripj^ed  off  his 
European  dress,  clothed  Tiimself  in  sheep-skin,  and 
emphatically  renounced  the  society  of  civilized  men 


330  APPENDIX. 

and  tlie  Christian  religion,  declaring  that  he  would 
live  and  die  in  the  manners  and  customs  of  his  fore- 
fathers. Now  this  would  be  taken,  by  those  who  are 
eager  to  discover  fresh  proofs  of  the  unchangeableness 
of  human  types,  as  an  evidence  of  a  striking  moral 
diversity  between  this  people  and  the  races  suscep- 
tible of  civilization  ;  whereas,  as  Prichard  sagaciously 
remarks,  we  really  trace  here  one  characteristic  trait 
of  nature,  as  it  exists  in  all  the  other  races.  "  A  sort 
of  instinctive  and  blind  attachment  to  the  earliest  im- 
pressions made  upon  the  mind  is  one  of.  our  strongest 
intellectual  propensities.  In  the  example  above  cited, 
it  ajipears  to  have  been  equally  powerful  in  the  mind 
of  the  Hottentot  as  it  is  known  to  be  in  more  cultivat- 
ed nations.  Yet  this  has  not  prevented  the  spread 
of  Christianity  in  the  same  race  of  people,  when  intro- 
duced among  them  under  different  circumstances." 
{J.  C.  Prichard,  Physical  History  of  Mankind.) 


APPENDIX 


331 


E. 


Note  to  Page  184. 


It  thus  appears  that  Prof.  Agassiz,  in  insisting  upon 
the  ph3-siological  and  psychological  unity  of  men 
while  he  yet  contends  for  primeval  distinctions  of 
physical  types,  confers  upon  subgenera^  as  composed 
of  represe) dative  or  closely  approximate  species,  the 
distinction  which  has  heretofore,  by  the  common  con- 
sent of  naturalists,  been  assigned  to  species^  of  being 
the  true  units  of  organic  nature.  In  view  of  this  posi- 
tion, it  strikes  us  as  an  exhibition  of  a  singular  lack 
of  fitness  on  the  part  of  Prof.  Agassiz,  when  he  argues 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  specific  unity  of  the  human 
races ''runs  inevitably  into  the  Lamarekian  develop- 
ment theory."  Such  a  charge,  as  directed  against  the 
doctrine  in"  question,  seems  to  us  preposterous,  and 
may  be  made  to  recoil  with  irresistible  force  upon 
Prof.  Agassiz  himself  In  asserting  the  specific  unity 
of  man,  we  insist  that  the  tests  of  such  unity  are  con- 
stant and  undeviating,  but  that  without  touching  these 
characters,  there  are  others  which  vary  within  certain 
restricted  limits,  and  that  the  varieties  thence  arising 
mav,  under  fiivorable  circumstances,  acquire  the  fixed- 
ness of  species.  Now,  where  in  all  this  is  there  a  lean- 
ing to  the  development  theory?  On  the  other  hand,  if 
Prof  Agassiz'  types  of  men  be  primordial,  and  repre- 
sent so  many  distinct  species,  these  must  be  admitted 
to  be  liable  to  transmutation,  since  it  is  quite  certain 
that  they  run  into  each  other  by  insensible  gradations, 
and  that  the  actual  transition  has  been  known  to  take 


332  APPENDIX. 

place  in  several  instances.  It  is  Ms  doctrine,  then,  and 
not  ours,  which  "  runs  inevitably  into  the  development 
theory."  And  so,  indeed,  is  his  doctrine  accepted  by 
those  who  have  no  objection  to  its  logical  consequences. 
M.  Paul  Broca,  rehearsing  in  Dr.  Brown-Sequard's 
"Journal  de  Physiologic,  for  July,  1858,"  the  argu- 
ments of  "  Types  of  Mankind,"  rejects  the  doctrine  of 
fixedness  of  species.  Prof.  Agassiz  seems  to  us  to  be 
less  logical  than  some  of  his  followers. 


APPENDIX.  333 


F. 


Note  to  Page  298. 

Having  on  such  slender  evidence  asserted  tlie  fact  of 
the  discovery  of  fossil  men,  Dr.  Usher,  as  if  in  allusion 
to  the  remarks  of  Bishop  Berkeley,  proceeds  to  affirm 
that  "  authentic  rdics  of  human  art  have  been,  at  last, 
found  in  the  diluvian  drift."  He  refers  to  the  re- 
searches of  Dr.  Daniel  Wilson,  in  Scotland,  and  tbose 
of  M.  Boucher  de  Perthes,  in  France,  as  proving  the 
existence  of  Pre-Celtic  races,  and  "a  surpassingly  an- 
cient people."  In  answer  to  this  statement,  let  it  suf- 
fice to  reproduce  the  comments  of  a  writer  in  the 
Westminster  Review,  no  unfriendly  critic,  but  one 
whose  prejudices  incline  him  to  adopt  the  conclusions 
of  Usher,  Nott,  Glidilon,  &c.,  with  reference  to  the  in- 
definite antiquity  of  human  races.    The  reviewer  says: 

"  It  may  be  seriously  questioned,  whether  any  Brit- 
ish barrow,  yet  opened,  can  belong  to  a  period  beyond 
two  or  three  thousand  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
whilst  there  are  reasons  for  believing  that  they  mostly 
fall  much  within  such  period.  Assuming  this  view, 
which  we  admit  is  not  supported  by  such  positive  data 
as  could  be  desired,  to  be  not  very  grossly  inaccurate, 
we  may  well  require  evidence  of  the  inost  unexcep- 
tionable character,  where  an  antiquity  is  claimed  for 
human  remains,  to  which  that  of  the  Egyptian  pyra- 
mids is  a  mere  trifle.  In  the  admirable  work  of  Squier 
and  Davis,  on  the  '  ancient  monuments  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,'  the  subject  of  the  age  of  these  monuments 
is  discussed  in  a  cautious  manner,  yet  the  writer.-;  are 


334  APPENDIX. 

disposed  to  claim  for  them  an  antiquity  considerably 
greater  than  that  of  our  British  barrows,  principally 
from  finding  the  bones  in  a  less  firm  condition.  With- 
out denying  that  they  may  be  quite  f.s  old  as  these 
primeval  monuments  of  our  country,  or  even  older, 
we  may  observe  that  the  experience  of  English  anti- 
quaries is  in  favor  of  not  relying  with  too  much  con- 
fidence on  this  state  of  preservation  of  bones,  without 
taking  the  conditions  of  interment  into  account.  At 
the  same  time,  the  bones  of  ancient  Britons  are  only 
rarely  found  in  a  perfect  and  firm  state ;  and  the  hills 
and  downs  of  this  countr}'  must  present  quite  as 
favorable  features  for  the  preservation  of  human  re- 
mains as  the  teri'aces  of  the  river  valleys  of  the  United 
States.  The  reasoning  based  on  the  mound-builders 
never  having  selected  the  lowest  of  these  terraces  for 
their  works,  whence  it  has  been  inferred  that  this  last 
terrace  was  formed  subsequently  to  the  erection  of  the 
mounds,  always  appeared  to  us  weak  and  inconclusive." 

"Such  subjects  as  these  offer  a  shining  field  for  the 
work  of  the  imagination ;  and  Dr.  Usher,  earnest  in 
support  of  a  favorite  hypothesis,  in  quoting  freely  from 
the  writings  of  one  of  our  continental  neighbors,  seems 
to  be  quite  regardless  of  national  propensities, — other- 
wise, he  would  have  hesitated  before  he  endorsed  with 
his  countenance  some  of  M.  Boucher  de  Perthes'  Celtic 
haiHiners  and  pickaxes,  which  are  neither  more  nor  less 
than  fragments  of  the  antlers  of  deers,  each  retaining 
one  of  its  tines  ;  so  as  to  make  them  hammers  arid  pick- 
axes in  forin  alone,  just  as  much  as  the  pexoter  toys  of 
children  are  tongs  and  pokers  and  fnjing-pansJ''  (West- 
minster Review,  April,  1856.) 

We  may  now  observe  that  the  undoitbted  monu 
ments  of  early  races  unknown  to  history  furnish  us 
with  many  significant  indications  of  their  common 
origin.  Our  limits  preclude  extended  specifications, 
but  we  invite  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  an  inter- 
esting article  in  the  "  Protestant  Episcopal  Quarterly 


APPENDIX-  335 

Review  and  Churcli  Register,"  for  Ootobc^r,  1858,  "  on 
the  Monuments  of  Lost  Races."  One  or  two  facts  only 
we  can  cite  here. 

Among  the  ornamental  carvings  on  some  of  the 
monuments  seen  by  Mr.  Stephens,  in  Central  America, 
he  was  struck  by  the  representatioy-is  of  the  dcphan(s 
trunk.  "And  in  one  place,  he  discovered,  near  the 
base  of  an  obelisk  idol,  a  colossal  stone  head  of  a 
crocodile.  Neither  of  these  creatures,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, belonged,  at  the  age  of  the  discovery,  to 
the  An-ierican  continent."  These  facts  furnish,  in  our 
opinion,  a  conclusive  proof  of  the  eastern  origin  of  the 
builders  of  the  monuments. 

In  Peru  it  was  found  "that  the  mummied  dead  were 
buried  in  a  sitting  posture,  whether  in  rock-hewn 
sepulchral  chambers,  or  in  galleries  beneath  vast 
mounds  of  earth  or  stone."  Now,  in  the  Loo  Choo 
Islands,  as  recently  explored  by  otfiicers  of  our  gov- 
ernment, were  found  "neglected  rock-tombs,"  and  the 
singular  old  custom  of  burying  the  dead  in  a  sitting 
posture,  and  that  remarkable  style  of  architectui-e 
known  in  Europe  as  the  "  Old  Cyclopean." 

The  Cyclopean  buildings  found  in  Italy  and  Greece, 
and  indicating  the  existence  in  those  countries  of  ante- 
historical  races  have,  says  Niebuhr,  "a  great  resem- 
blance in  style  to  those  of  ancient  Egypt,  especially  to 
the  peculiar  colossal  nature  of  Egyptian  architecture. 
We,  moreover,  find  in  them  pointed  arches  instead  of 
vaults,  just  as  in  Egyptian  buildings." 

In  connexion  with  this  subject,  we  might  adduce 
the  monuments  and  traditions  among  the  most  diverse 
and  widely  scattered  nations  relating  to  the  flood.  The 
traditions  exist  among  nearly  all  the  races  of  the 
earth,  and  in  many,  often  very  many,  and  most  signif- 
icant circumstantial  details  agree  with  the  Scriptural 
account  of  the  Noachian  deluge.  Among  the  monu- 
ments which  relate  to  the  same  catastrophe  may  be 
mentioned   the  Apamseau  Medal,  struck  during   the 


s^ 


36  APPENDIX. 


reign  of  Philip  tlie  Elder,  at  the  town  of  Apamea,  in 
Phrygia.  "  This  city  is  known  to  have  been  formerly 
called  Cibotus,  or  "the  ark,"  and  it  is  also  known  that 
the  coins  of  cities  in  that  age  exhibited  some  leading 
point  in  their  mythological  history."  "It  was,"  says 
Bryant,  "undoubtedly  named  Cibotus,  in  memorj^c^f 
the  ark,  and  of  the  history  with  which  it  is  con- 
nected. And  in  proof  of  this,  we  shall  iind  that  the 
pco]ile  had  preserved  more  particular  and  authentic 
traditions  concerning  the  flood,  and  the  preservation 
of  mankind  through  Noah,  than  are  to  be  met  with 
elsewhere.  *****  Upon  the  reverse  (of  the 
coin)  is  delineated  a  kind  of  square  machine  floating 
upon  the  water.  Through  an  opening  in  it  are  seen 
two  persons,  a  man  and  a  woman,  as  low  as  to  the 
breast ;  and  upon  the  head  of  the  woman  is  a  veil. 
Over  this  ark  is  a  kind  of  triangular  pediment, 
upon  which  sits  a  dove ;  and  below  it  another,  which 
seems  to  flutter  its  wings,  and  holds  in  its  mouth  a 
small  branch  of  a  tree.  Before  the  machine  is  a  man 
following  a  woman,  who  by  their  attitude  seem  to  have 
just  quitted  it  and  to  have  got  upon  dry  land.  Upon 
the  ark  itself,  underneath  the  persons  there  inclosed,  is 
to  be  read,  in  distinct  characters,  N£2E,"  being  the  very 
word  for  Noah  used  in  the  Greek  tongue.  {Analysis 
of  Ancient  Mythology^  by  Jacob  Bryant  Esq.,  vol.  III., 
p.  47.  See  also  Kitto's  Daily  Bible  Illustrations.  New 
York  :  E.  Carter  &  Bi'others,  1854, — volume  on  the  An- 
tediluvians and  Patriarchs,  for  various  monuments  and 
traditions  of  the  flood.) 

Now  with  regard  to  traditions  relating  directly  to 
the  question  of  the  affiliations  of  races,  we  find  certain 
significant  and  interesting  statements  in  a  paper  read 
before  the  Ethnological  section  of  the  British  Scientific 
Association,  at  Dublin,  in  August,  1857,  by  Eear- 
Admiral  FiTZROY.  This  experienced  traveller  says: 
"In  the  West  of  America,  the  natives  look  to  the 
west  as  the  place  from  which  they  came,   and  bury 


APPENDIX.  337 

their  dead  towards  the  west  (placing  them  '  towards 
the  spirits  of  their  ancestors,'  as  they  say):  while  the 
natives  of  the  east  coast  of  Patagonia  point  to  the  east- 
ward as  the  quarter  whence  they  came,  and  then  bury 
their  dead  on  the  highest  hills  to  the  eastvyard  for  a 
similar  reason.  It  is  remarkable  that  none  of  them 
derived  their  origin  from  their  present  localities  in 
America.  In  Africa,  the  natives  point  to  the  north  as 
the  place  of  their  origin.  And,  briefly,  all  aboriginal 
tribes  have  been  found  by  travellers  and  the  learned, 
to  derive  their  origin  more  or  less  directly  from  the 
central  regions  of  Asia,"  p.  181. 


15 


338  APPENDIX. 


G. 


(Reprinted  from  the  "  Prot.  Episcopal  Review  and  Church  Reg. ,"  for  October,  1857  ) 

Lidigenons  Baces  of  the  Earth  ;  or,  New  Chapters  of 
Ethnological  Inquiry ;  including  Monographs  on 
Special  Departments  of  Philology,  Iconography, 
Cranioscojyy,  Pcdcmntology,  Pathology,  Arehmology, 
Comparative  Geography,  and  Natural  History:  con 
tributed  by  Alfred  Maury,  Bibliothecnire  do  I'lnstitut 
de  France,  etc.,  etc.,  Francis  Pulsky,  Fellow  of  the 
Hungarian  Academy,  etc.,  etc.,  and  J.  Aitken  Meigs, 
M.  D.,  Librarian  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia,  etc.,  etc,  (with  communications  from 
Prof.  Jos.  Leidy,  M.  D.,  and  Prof  L.  Agasbiz,  LL.D.) 
Presenting  fresh  Investigations,  Documents,  and  Ma- 
terials, by  J.  C.  NoTT,  M.  D.,  and  Geo.  R.  Gliddon, 
Authors  of  "Types  of  Mankind."  Philadelphia:  J. 
B.  Lippincott  &  Co.     London  :  Triibner  &  Co.     18.57. 

Under  tlie  above  title,  covering,  as  our  readers  will 
perceive,  an  imposing  array  of  the  names  of  several 
distinguished  collaborators,  a  new  work  has  been  put 
fortli  by  tlic  authors  of  the  "Types  of  Mankind," 
wherein  a  second  and  more  flagrant  attempt  is  made 
to  propagate  their  infidel  opinions  respecting  the  claims 
of  the  Bible  to  be  received  as  the  inspired  Word  of 
God.  Under  the  cover  of  a  pretended  discussion  of 
cei'tain  ethnological  problems,  occasion  is  taken  to  heap 
obloquy  and  contempt  upon  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and 
all  who  hold  these  in  reverence.  Such,  at  least,  is  the 
staple  of  that  large  portion  of  the  work  which  appears 
under  the  name  of  Gliddon,  as  we  shall  demonstrate 
by  means  of  a  few  specimens  selected  almost  at  ran- 


APPENDIX.  389 

dom.  It  gives  us  mucli  jjleasure  to  add,  that  the 
paper  of  Dr.  Nott  on  Acclimation  (his  only  contribu- 
tion to  the  work)  is  unobjectionable  in  its  tone  and 
spirit,  though,  in  our  opinion,  its  conclusions  are  far 
from  being  sustained  by  the  facts  on  which  they  are 
based. 

Having  so  recently  taken  a  survey  of  the  entire 
ground  of  the  discussion  between  the  respective  ad- 
vocates of  the  unity  and  the  diversity  of  the  human 
races,  we  shall  coniine  ourselves  on  the  present  occa- 
sion to  such  topics  as  are  immediately  suggested  by  the 
statements  of  the  work  whose  title  heads  this  article. 

One  or  two  general  remarks  may  be  premised  before 
we  enter  upon  the  task  of  special  and  detailed  criti- 
cism. We  observe,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  while 
the  attempt  is  obviously  made  throughout  the  work  to 
justify  the  promise  of  its  imposing  title,  the  careful 
and  sagacious  reader  of  these  "New  Chapters,"  will 
fail  to  recognize  a  single  new  argument,  or  to  find  any 
new  support  to  the  arguments  advanced  in  the  "  Types 
of  Mankind"  in  favor  of  the  diversity  doctrine,  which 
arguments,  as  we  have  seen,  in  our  notices  of  the  lat- 
ter work,  do  not  bear  the  test  of  critical  scrutiny. 

Our  second  preliminary  general  remark  relates  to 
the  changed  tone  of  the  writers,  when  referring  to 
the  present  state  of  the  discussion  as  between  them 
and  the  believers  in  human  unity.  For,  strange  as  it 
may  sound  to  the  readers  of  the  "Types  of  Mankind," 
even  Gliddon  himself  admits  that  "the  diversity  view 
is  not  yet  absolutely  proven" — that  the  proofs  of  di- 
versity are  chiefly  of  a  negative  character — and  that 
"  these  questions  being  still  sub  judice^  some  discovery 
in  science  now  unforeseen,  may  hereafter  establish  unity 
upon  a  certain  basis."  Concessions  of  equal  or  greater 
significance  aro  made  by  other  contributors  to  the 
work,  as  will  be  seen  below. 

Prof.  Agassiz,  in  a  letter  of  three  pages,  merely 
reiterates  the  two  principal  statements  of  his  "  Sketch. 


340  APPENDIX. 

of  the  Natural  Provinces  of  the  Animal  World,"  pub- 
lished in  the  "  Types  of  Mankind."  We  refer,  of  course, 
to  his  labored  attempt  to  demonstrate  a  coincidence  be- 
tween the  boundaries  of  the  natural  zoological  prov- 
inces and  "  tlie  natural  range  of  the  distinct  types  of 
man,"  and  to  his  most  extraordinary  assertion  that  the 
linguistic  affinities  of  races  are  not  significant  of  a 
community  of  origin,  but  are  merely  the  necessary  re- 
sults of  a  common  generic  nature ;  it  being,  in  his 
opinion,  just  as  natural  and  spontaneous  for  different 
tribes  of  men,  even  though  of  diverse  origin,  to  speak 
alike  as  it  is  for  different  species  of  ducks  to  "  quack." 
Having  heretofore  noticed  and,  as  we  think,  fully  re- 
futed both  these  statements,  we  find  in  the  letter  un- 
der consideration  little  else  that  demands  special  re- 
mark. An  attempt  is  made  to  create  a  presumption  in 
fiivor  of  the  specific  diversity  of  the  different  types  of 
man  by  adverting  to  the  parallel  case  of  the  orang  ou- 
tangs  of  Borneo,  Java,  and  Sumatra,  which,  on  the  au- 
thority of  Professor  Richard  Owen  and  Dr.  Jef- 
freys Wyman,  are  held  to  belong  to  at  least  three 
distinct  species.  Prof  Agassiz  avers  "  that  the  orangs 
differ  from  one  another  in  the  same  manner  as  the  races 
of  man  do  ;  so  much  so,  that,  if  these  orangs  are  dif- 
ferent species,  the  different  races  of  men  which  inhab- 
it the  same  countries,  the  Malays  and  the  Negrillos, 
must  be  considered  also  as  distinct  species."  This,  at 
first  view,  seems  a  very  plausible  argument,  but  it  will 
not  bear  examination.  Its  whole  strength  lies  in  the 
quiet  assumption  implied  by  the  words  which  we  have 
italicized.  But  we  may  be  permitted  to  call  for  the 
proof  of  the  assertion  tliat  the  "  orangs  differ  from  one 
another  in  the  same  manner  as  the  races  of  man  do," 
and  especially  for  the  evidence  sustaining  the  con- 
verse proposition  that  tbey  resemble  one  another  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  races  of  man  do,  since  the  argu- 
ment is  utterly  without  value  unless  the  proposition 
be  applied  in   both  forms.     We  will,  then,  inquire  of 


APPENDIX.  341 

tJie  learned  Professor  whether  these  specijicalhj  different 
orangs  have  ever  been  known  to  cross  their  breed  and  pro- 
dxice  a  prolific  offspring^  and  whether  it  has  ever  been 
shown  that  there  is  as  close  a  correspondence  between 
them  in  respect  to  physiological  and  psychological 
characters  as  we  have  made  out  for  all  the  varieties  of 
man.  If,  as  is  doubtless  the  fact,  very  little  is  known 
on  these  subjects,  we  protest  against  the  obvious  fal- 
lacy of  such  analogical  reasoning  as  this.  After  all, 
too.  Professor  Owen  and  Dr.  Wyman  may  be  wrong 
insupposing  that  these  orangs  are  of  different  species, 
as  undoubtedly  they  w^ould  themselves  be  convinced 
were  it  possible  to  prove  that  the  orangs  resembled  and 
differed  from  each  other  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
races  of  men  do.  Professor  Agassiz  himself  admits 
that  "  they  are  considered  by  some  of  the  most  emi- 
nent zoologists  as  constituting  only  one  single  species ;" 
and  that  such  "  is  the  opinion  of  Andreas  Wagner, 
who,  by  universal  consent,  ranks  as  one  of  the  high- 
est authorities  in  questions  relating  to  the  natural  his- 
tory of  the  Mammalia."  The  truth  is.  Professor  Ag- 
assiz violates  one  of  the  simplest  rules  of  logic,  in 
attempting  to  elucidate  the  specific  relations  of  the 
human  races  by  referring  to  the  case  of  the  orangs.  It 
is  a  futile  effort  to  explain  the  obscurum  per  obscurius. 
We  often,  indeed,  throw  light  upon  questions  relating 
to  the  human  functions  by  comparing  these  with  the 
simpler  manifestations  of  life  in  lower  animals  ;  but 
where,  as  in  the  case  under  consideration,  we  know  a 
great  deal  more  about  the  varieties  of  man  than  we 
do  of  the  anthro]ooid  brutes,  so  far,  at  least,  as  the 
tests  of  specific  relationships  are  concerned,  it  is  pre- 
posterous to  reason  from  the  less  known  to  the  better 
known.  We  are  quite  indifferent  as  to  what  may  be 
the  final  decision  of  naturalists  on  this  question  of  the 
specific  relations  of  the  orangs  Either  they  all  belong 
to  one  single  species,  as  AYagner  believes,  in  which  case 
the  argument  of  Professor  Agassiz  would  refute  his 


342  APT  END  IX. 

present  conclusions,  or  thej  belong  to  more  tnan  one 
species ;  but  if  this  should  be  demonstrated,  the  lyroof 
would  consist,  not  exclusively  or  mainly  in  the  slight 
anatomical  differences  by  which  they  are  marked,  but 
chiefly  in  the  absence  of  those  evidences  of  specific  unity 
ivhich  have  been  so  abundantly  substantiated  in  the  case 
of  the  human  races. 

In  immediate  juxtaposition  with  the  letter  of  Prof. 
Agassiz  appears  one  from  Dr.  Joseph  Leidy,  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  This  accomplished  palae- 
ontologist expresses  a  somewhat  hesitating  belief  in 
the  indefinite  antiquity  of  man,  but  candidly  admits 
the  utter  inadequacy  of  the  proof  of  this  doctrine. 
Thus  he  says:  "  While  engaged  in  palseontological 
researches,  I  sought  for  earlier  records  of  the  aborig- 
inal races  of  man  than  have  reached  us  through  vague 
traditions  or  through  later  authentic  history,  but  with 
out  being  able  to  discover  any  positive  evidenx^es  of  the 
exact  geological  period  of  the  advent  of  man  in  the  fauna 
of  the  earth.  The  numerous  facts  which  have  been 
brought  to  our  notice  touching  the  discovery  of  human 
bones,  and  rude  implements  of  art,  in  association  with 
the  remains  of  animals  of  the  earlier  pleiocene  deposits, 
are  not  conclusive  evidence  of  their  contemporaneous  ex- 
istence.'''' Again,  after  expressing  the  conjecture  that 
"  primitive  races  of  man  may  have  already  inhabited 
the  intertropical  regions,"  at  a  period  coeval  with  the 
Glacial  epoch  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  he  admits 
that  '■'■  no  satisfactory  evidence  has  been  adduced  in  favor 
of  this  early  appearance  of  ntan,^^  but  adds,  that  he  is 
"  strongly  inclined  to  suspect  that  such  evidence  will 
yet  be  discovered.  When  such  discovery  shall  have 
been  made,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  consider  the 
method  of  reconciling  the  fact  \\ii\\  the  teachings  of 
the  Scriptures.  At  present,  we  claim  the  benefit  of 
Dr.  Leidy's  admission  that  no  such  evidence  has  yet 
been  discovered. 


A  p  r  E  N  D I  X  .  343 

We  arc  pleased  to  have  it  in  our  power  to  state  in 
this  connection  that  Dr.  Leidy  agrees  with  Sir  Charles 
Lyell,  as  to  the  recent  age  of  the  human  hip-bone 
found  near  Natchez,  in  association  with  the  remains  of 
the  Mastodon,  Mylodon,  Megalonjx,  Ereptodon,  and 
other  extinct  species.  He  does  not,  indeed,  positively 
deny  that  it  was  contemporaneous  with  the  remains  of 
the  extinct  animals,  but  he  regards  the  supposition  of 
Sir  Charles  Lyell,  with  respect  to  its  subsequent  intro- 
duction among  the  latter,  to  be  highly  probable,  and 
proves  conclusively  "  that  bones  of  recent  animals, 
when  introduced  into  the  older  deposits,  may,  in  many 
cases,  very  soon  assume  the  condition  of  the  fossils 
belonging  to  those  deposits.  Thus  fossilization,  petri- 
faction, or  lapidification,  is  no  positive  indication  of 
the  relative  age  of  organic  remains.  The  miocene 
vertebrate  remains  of  the  Himalayas  are  far  more  com- 
pletely fossilized  than  the  like  remains  of  the  eocene 
deposits  of  the  Paris  basin;  and  the  remains  of  the 
tertiary  vertebrata  of  Nebraska  are  more  fossilized  than 
those  of  the  secondary  deposits  beneath." 

The  letters  which  have  just  engaged  our  attention 
appear  in  the  Preface  of  the  work.  The  first  Chapter 
consists  of  an  Essay  "On  the  Distribution  and  Classi- 
fication of  Tongues" — their  relation  to  the  Geographical 
Distribution  of  Paces ;  and  on  the  inductions  which 
maybe  drawn  from  these  relations,  by  Alfred  Maury, 
Librarian  of  the  French  Imperial  Institute,  Secretary- 
General  of  the  Soci^t^  de  Geographic  de  Paris."  This 
is  an  intei-esting,  and,  in  many  respects,  an  instructive 
paper.  AVc  might  admit  the  general  accuracy  of  the 
facts  brought  together  by  the  author  without  being  led 
to  his  conclusions.  On  the  conti'ary,  we  should  derive 
from  those  facts  views  that  differ  in  some  respects  very 
materially  from  those  which  he  has  announced. 

M.  Maury,  without  attempting  to  demonstrate  the 
jilural  origin  of  mankind,  assumes  such  origin  as  a 
postulate,  and  then  aims  to  show  that  languages  are 


344  APPENDIX. 

susceptible  of  the  same  classification  as  trie  races — that 
allied  tongues  belong  to  allied  races — that  the  alliance 
of  races  adequate  to  explain  affinity  of  tongues  needs 
not  to  be  that  of  blood  nor  even  that  which  has  re- 
sulted from  long  intercourse,  but  is  merely  that  of  a 
common  grade  of  intellectual  development.  In  other 
words,  lie  sustains  the  untenable  hypothesis  of  Prof. 
Agassiz,  to  which  allusion  has  just  been  made,  and 
which  we  have  seen  has  been  sufficiently  refuted  by 
the  convincing  reasoning  of  the  Chevalier  Bunsen. 
Speaking  of  the  Basque  or  Iberian  tongue,  he  indi- 
cates a  characteristic  which  serves  to  connect  it  with 
the  Tartar  tongues  of  Central  Asia.  Thus,  he  says : 
"  It  (the  Basque  tongue)  composes  '  de  toutes  pieces,' 
the  idea-word;  suppresses  often  entire  syllables ;  and, 
in  this  work  of  composition,  preserving  sometimes  but 
a  single  letter  of  the  primitive  word,  it  presents  those 
adjunctive  particles  that  by  philologists  are  termed 
postpositions — as  opposed  to  prepositions — which  serve 
to  distinguish  cases."  In  this  manner  it  is  that  the 
Basque  constructs  its  declension.  This  new  characteris- 
tic reappears  in  another  great  family  of  languages  which 
we  shall  discuss  anon,  namely,the  Tartar  tongues  belong- 
ing to  Central  Asia.  '■'■The  Basque  consequently  denotes  a 
very  primitive  intellectual  state  of  the  people  who  occupied 
Western  Europe  previously  to  the  arrival  of  the  Indo- 
Europeans  ;  and,  were  it  allowable  to  draw  an  induction 
from  an  isolated  characteristic,  one  might  suppose  that 
the  Iberes  were,  as  a  race,  allied  to  the  Tartar.  But  this 
hypothesis,  daring  as  it  is,  receives  a  new  degree  of 
probability  fi'om  the  study  of  the  second  group  of 
the  European  languages,  foreign  to  the  Indo-Germanic 
source, — namely,  the  Finnish  group.  This  group  is  not 
restricted  to  a  few  idioms  on  the  north-east  of  Europe. 
It  extends  itself  over  all  the  territory  of  northern 
Eussia,  even  to  the  extremity  of  Kamtschatka.  Com- 
parison of  the  numerous  idioms  spoken  by  tribes 
spread  over  Siberia  has  revealed  a  common  bond  be- 


APPENDIX  .  345 

tween  them,  as  well  of  grammar  as  of  vocabulary. 
These  tongues,  which  might  be  comprehended  under 
the  general  appellation  Finno-t/ajJonic  (from  the  names 
of  those  occupying  upon  the  map  the  two  extremes  of 
their  chain)  offer  this  same  characteristic  of  aggluti- 
nation which  has  just  been  signalized  in  the  Basque, 
but  in  a  much  less  degree.  They  make  use  of  that 
curious  system  of  postpositions  which  appertains  also 
to  the  ancient  idiom  of  the  Iberes.  Those  terminations 
destined  to  represent  cases  are  replaced  by  prepositions 
distinct  from  the  word,  which  in  our  languages  pre- 
cede, on  the  contrary,  the  words  of  which  they  modify 
the  case.  It  must  be  noted  that  the  apparition  of  these 
postpositions  invariably  antecedcs,  in  the  gradual  for- 
mation of  tongues,  the  employment  of  cases  ;  wliereas 
prepositions  replace  these  when  the  tongue  becomes 
altered  and  simplified.  Cases  are  nothing,  indeed,  but 
the  result  of  the  coupling  of  the  postposition  to  words. 
The  organic  march  of  the  declension  presents  itself, 
therefore,  throughout  the  evolution  of  languages,  in 
the  following  manner, — namely,  at  first  the  root  (or 
radical)  ordinarily  monosyllabic ;  next,  the  radical  fol- 
lowed by  postpositions,  corresponding  to  the  period  of 
agglutination;  again,  the  radical  submitted  to  the  flexion 
— corresponding  to  the  ancient  period  of  our  Indo- 
European  tongues;  and  finally,  the  preposition  followed 
by  the  radical,  corresponding  to  the  modern  period 
of  these  same  languages.  It  is  to  be  noted  that 
the  postposititm  (in  relative  age)  never  returns  subse- 
quently to  the  preposition — any  more  than  can  the 
milk-teeth  o:ro\v  again  in  an  old  man  after  the  loss  of 
his  molars.  Thus,  then,  the  age  of  the  Finnish  tongues 
and  of  the  Basque  is  fixed.  They  were  idioms  of  anal- 
ogous organization,  and  of  which  the  arrest  of  devel- 
opment announces  a  sufficiently  feeble  degree  of 
intellectual  power.  The  brethren  of  the  Aryas  and 
Iranians,  upon  penetrating  into  Europe,  had  only, 
therefore,  to  combat  populations  living  in  a  state  anal- 


346  APPENDIX. 

ogous  to  that  in  which  we  find  the  hordes  of  Siberia." 
We  present  this  passage  as  setting  fourth  in  a  very 
striking  manner  the  peculiar  views  of  M.  Maur3^  It 
will  be  observed  that  he  holds  the  Iberes,  as  a  race,  to 
be  allied  to  the  Tartar  tribes,  and  this  too  on  the 
ground  of  linguistic  affinities.  But  by  such  admitted 
alhance  he  does  not  intend  to  imply  consanguinity,  or 
the  relationship  of  descent  from  a  common  stock ;  he 
onl}^  refers  to  the  afiinity  of  a  common  intellectual 
state.  He  recognizes,  as  other  pliilologists  do,  two 
degrees  of  relationship  among  languages, — namely,  "the 
relationship  of  words  coupled  with  a  conformity  of  the 
general  grammatical  system ;  and  this  conformity 
without  similitude  of  vocabularj^"  When  languages 
offer  the  former  degree  of  relationship,  he  terms  them 
daughters  or  sislers,  im|)lying  that  they  have  sprung 
from  a  common  stock;  but  when  ihev  are  connected 
only  through  the  second  kind  of  relationship,  he  terms 
them  allied,  by  which  he  implies  nothing  more  than  a 
similar  mental  organization  in  the  tribes  whicli  speak 
them.  The  European  languages  of  the  Indo-Germanic 
stock  furnish  a  striking  instance  of  the  former  kind  of 
relationship.  On  this  point  M.  Maury  speaks  as  de- 
cidedly as  Prichard,  Bunsen,  or  Max  Miiller  would 
speak.  "  This  distiibution  of  languages  in  Europe," 
says  he,  "co-relative  in  their  afllinity  with  the  antique 
idioms  once  spoken  from  the  shores  of  the  Caspian 
Sea  to  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  is  an  incontestable  index 
to  the  Asiatic  ORIGIN  of  the  peoples  who  speak  them.  One 
cannot  here  suppose  a  fortuitous  circumstance.  It  isclearly 
seen  that  these  tribes  issuing  from-  Asia  had  impinged  one 
against  another  ;  and  the  Celts,  as  the  most  ayicient  immi- 
grants on  the  European  continent,  have  ended  hy  becoming 
its  most  occidental  inhabitants.'''' 

*In  view  of  such  unexceptionable  reasoning  as  this, 
we  must  largely  quality  the  averment  we  have  made 
that  M.  Maury  sustains  the  singularly  extreme  views 
of    Prof.    Agassiz    on    the    explanation    of   linguistic 


APPENDIX.  347 

affinities.  For  he  thus  distinctly  admits  that  a  simili- 
tude of  vocabulary,  coupled  with  grammatical  con- 
formity,  is  adequate  to  demonstrate  community  of 
origin.  He,  however,  agrees  with  Prof.  Agassiz  in 
assuming  that  no  amount  of  conformity  in  grammati- 
cal construction  does  of  itself  establish  the  fact  of  a 
common  origin  of  the  tongues  in  which  such  con- 
formity is  found  without  similar  words.  On  this  point 
he  is  directly  at  issue  with  the  great  body  of  compara- 
tive philologists,  nearly  all  of  whom  hold  that  the 
evidence  furnished  by  this  kind  of  conformity  is  often 
of  more  value  in  proving  the  common  origin  of  lan- 
guages, than  that  supplied  by  the  discovery  of  similar 
words.  For  the  vocabularies  are,  for  various  and 
obvious  reasons,  far  more  liable  to  change  than  the 
system  of  grammatical  construction,  which,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  does,  indeed,  depend  upon  the  degree  of 
intellectual  development  and  the  modes  of  thought  of 
a  people,  but  by  no  means  to  such  an  extent  as  is  as- 
serted in  the  gratuitous  hypothesis  of  M.  Maury. 
Similar  modes  of  thought  and  an  equal  degree  of 
intellectual  development  do  not  necessarily  or  natural- 
ly give  rise  to  uniformity  of  grammatical  construction 
among  nations  of  different  origin.  Grammatical  con- 
struction is  by  for  too  arbitrar}'-  to  permit  us  to  adopt 
such  an  hypothesis.  Moreover,  this  theory  is  suffi- 
ciently refuted  by  the  fact  that  nations  far  advanced  in 
knowledge  and  civilization  have  yet  retained  almost 
unchanged  their  earliest  form  of  grammatical  con- 
struction, which  thus  ceases  to  be  a  true  exponent  of 
their  intellectual  state.  Thus  "  the  Chinese,  for  in- 
stance, of  all  known  languages,  most  completely  pre- 
serves, in  a  fixed  or  stereotyped  condition,  that  earliest 
phase  in  the  development  of  speech,  in  which  every 
word  corresponded  to  or  represented  a  substantial 
object  in  the  outer  world;  and  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  a  considerable  amount  of  intellectual  development 
is  to  be  found  amidst  that  people.     And  from  what  is 


348  APPENDIX. 

known  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  language,  this  appears 
to  have  been  nearly  in  the  same  condition.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  are  many  languages  of  comparatively 
barbarous  nations,  even  belonging  to  the  same  group 
with  the  Chinese,  which  possess  much  greater  flexi- 
bility."* Now  such  facts  are  plainly  incompatible 
with  M.  Maury's  theory,  according  to  which  it  is  held, 
not  only  "that  speech  is  with  man  as  spontaneous  as 
locomotion,"  but  also  that  a  similarity  of  intellectual 
development  always  produces  a  similarity  of  grammati- 
cal construction  in  the  languages  of  races  of  diverse 
origin,  and  that  primitive  tongues  change  their  gram- 
matical construction  in  advancing  to  higher  phases  of 
development  in  correspondence  with  the  intellectual 
improvement  of  the  peoples  by  whom  they  are  spoken. 
This  theory  at  first  view  seems  plausible,  and  is 
recommended  by  a  certain  simplicity,  but  we  must 
take  care  not  to  mistake  an  artificial  simplicity,  which 
ignores  much  that  ought  to  be  explained,  for  the  true 
simplicity  of  nature,  which  includes  in  one  harmonious 
system  all  the  diversified  phenomena  pertaining  to  the 
subject  to  be  elucidated.  It  may  be  a  very  simple 
thing,  in,  perhaps,  more  than  one  sense  of  the  word,  to 
assume  that  the  linguistic  affinities  of  certain  races 
depend  solely  on  their  siniilaiity  as  to  intellectual 
organization,  but  it  is  certain  that  such  a  theory  can 
never  truly  satisfy  a  reflecting  mind,  and  utterly  fails 
to  explain  the  diversities^  whether  of  kind  or  degree, 
which  are  observed  among  the  laiiguages  of  these  same 
races. 

If,  then,  it  were  really  true,  as  is  alleged  by  M. 
Maury,  that  the  linguistic  families  coincide  (with 
tolerable  exactitude)  with  the  more  trenched  divisions 
of  mankind,  and  that  the  relationship  between  the 
allied  tongues  was,  in  many  cases,  a  mere  conformity 

«  W.  B.  Carpenter,  Cyclopsedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology.     Vol 
iv.,  p.  1347. 


APPENDIX.  349 

of  grammatical  construction  without  verbal  corres- 
pondence, it  would  yet  be  far  more  natural  to  conclude 
that  such  conformity,  in  a  matter  so  conventional  as 
that  of  the  mode  of  expressing  the  relations  of  words 
in  a  sentence,  must  have  been  the  result  of  a  common 
origin,  than  that  two  or  more  tribes  of  distinct  origin 
should  have  spontaneously  fallen  into  the  same  mode. 
But  in  point  of  fact,  the  conclusions  of  comparative 
philologists  in  respect  to  the  descent  of  different  races 
of  men  from  a  common  stock  are  seldom  based  upon 
grammatical  conformity  alone,  being  almost  always 
founded  on  the  double  conformity  of  grammatical  con- 
struction and  verbal  correspondence.  It  is  true  that 
they  often  succeed  in  establishing  community  of  origin 
in  respect  to  races  whose  languages  have  few  or  no 
words  in  common,  but  then  they  do  this  by  demon- 
strating the  affinity  of  each  with  some  third  race  by 
means  of  verbal  correspondences  such  as  suffice  to 
prove  a  common  descent.  What  this  proof  is,  we 
haTe  heretofore  indicated  by  quotations  from  the  writ- 
ings of  Prichard  and  Bunsen.  Inasmuch,  however,  as 
the  point  is  yet  contested  by  Prof  Agassiz  and  the 
editors  of  the  work  we  are  noticing,  we  are  induced  to 
lay  before  our  readers  a  very  interesting  and  popular 
exposition  by  Dr.  Latham  of  the  views  generally  ac- 
cepted by  comparative  philologists  on  this  subject. 

"  The  value  of  language,"  remarks  this  competent 
judge,  "  has  been  overrated — chiefl}^,  of  course,  by  the 
philologists.  And  it  has  been  undervalued.  The 
anatomists  and  archaeologists,  and  above  all,  the  zoolo- 
gists, have  done  this.  The  historian,  too,  has  not 
known  exactly  how  to  appreciate  it,  when  its  phe- 
nomena come  in  collision  with  the  direct  testimony  of 
authorities — the  chief  instrument  in  his  owm  line  of 
criticism.  It  is  overrated  when  we  make  the  affinities 
of  speech  between  two  populations  absolute  evidence 
of  connection  in  the  way  of  relationship.  It  is  over- 
rated when  wc  talk  of  tongues  being  i/nmutaUe,  and  of 


850  APTEXDIX. 

languages  never  dying.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  unduly 
disparaged  when  an  inch  or  two  of  diiference  of  sta- 
ture, a  difference  in  the  taste  for  fine  arts,  a  modifica- 
tion in  the  religious  belief,  or  a  disproportion  in  the 
influence  upon  the  aftairs  of  the  world,  is  set  np  as  a 
mark  of  distinction  between  two  tribes  speaking  one 
and  the  same  tongue,  and  alike  in  other  matters. 
Now,  errors  of  each  kind  are  common.  The  perma- 
nence of  language  as  a  sign  of  orisin  must  be  deter- 
mined,  like  everything  else  of  the  same  kind,  by  in- 
duction ;  and  this  tells  us  that  both  the  loss  and  reten- 
tion of  a  native  tongue  are  illustrated  by  remarkable 
examples.  It  tells  both  waj^s.  In  St.  Domingo  we 
have  Negroes  speaking  French ;  and  this  is  a  notable 
instance  of  the  adoption  of  a  foreign  tongue.  But  the 
circumstances  were  peculiar.  One  tongue  was  not 
changed  for  another ;  since  no  Negro  language  pre- 
dominated. The  real  fact  was  a  mixture  of  languages 
— and  this  is  next  to  no  language  at  all.  Hence, 
when  French  became  the  language  of  the  Haytians,  the 
usual  obstacle  of  a  previously  existing  common  native 
tongue,  pertinaciously  and  patriotically  retained,  was 
wanting.  It  superseded  an  indefinite  and  conflicting 
mass  of   Negro  dialects,  rather  than  any  particular 

Negro  language Lastly — for  I  am  illustrating, 

not  exhausting,  the  subject — there  died,  in  the  year 
1770,  at  Karczag,  in  Hungary,  an  old  man  named 
Varro ;  the  last  man,  in  Europe,  that  knew  even  a  few 
words  of  the  language  of  his  nation.  Yet  this  nation 
was  and  is  a  great  one;  no  less  a  one  than  that  of  the 
ancient  Komanian  Turks,  some  of  whom  invaded 
Europe  in  the  eleventh  century,  penetrated  as  far  as 
Hungary,  settled  there  as  conquerors,  and  retained 
their  language  till  the  death  of  this  same  Varro.  The 
rest  of  the  nation  j'emained  in  Asia ;  and  th(3  present 
occupants  of  the  parts  between  the  Caspian  and  the 
Aral  are  their  descendants.  Languages,  then,  may  be 
lost ;  and  one   may  be  superseded  by  another 


APPENDIX.  351 

On  the  other  hand,  the  pertinacity  with  which  lan- 
guage resists  the  attempts  to  supersede  it,  is  of  no 
common  kind.  Without  g*>ing  to  Siberia  or  America, 
the  great  habitats  of  the  broken  and  fragmentary  fami- 
lies, we  may  find  instances  much  nearer  home.  In 
the  Isle  of  Man  the  native  Manks  still  remains ; 
though  dominant  Norsemen  and  dominant  Anglo- 
Saxons  have  brought  their  great  absorbent  languages 
in  collision  with  it.  In  Malta,  the  laborers  speak 
Arabic — with  Italian,  with  English,  and  with  a  Lingua 
Franca  around  them.  In  the  western  extremities  of 
the  Pyrenees,  a  language  neither  French  nor  Spanish 
is  spoken,  and.  has  been  spoken  for  centuries — possibly" 
millenniums.  It  was  once  the  speech  of  the  southern 
half  of  France,  and  of  all  Spain.  This  is  the  Basque 
of  Biscay." 

"  A  reasonable  philologist  makes  similarity  of  lan- 
guage strong — very  strong — prima  facie  evidence  in 
favor  of  conmuuiity  of  descent.  When  does  it  imply 
this,  and  when  does  it  merely  denote  commercial  or 
social  intercourse?  We  can  measure  the  phenomena 
of  languages,  and  exhibit  the  results  numerically. 
Thus,  the  ^jer  centage  of  words  common  to  two  langua- 
ges may  be  1,  2,  3,  4 — 98,  99,  or  any  intermediate 
number.  But  now  comes  the  application  of  a  maxim  : 
Ponderanda  non  numeranda.  We  ask  what  sort  of 
words  coincide,  as  well  as  how  manyf  When  the 
names  of  such  objects  as  fire^  coaler.  su7i,  moon,  star, 
hand,  tooth,  tongue,  foot,  etc.,  agree,  we  draw  an  infer- 
ence very  diiferent  from  the  one  which  arises  out  of 
the  presence  of  such  words  as  ennui,  fashion,  quadrille, 
violin,  etc.  Common  sense  distinguishes  the  words 
which  are  likely  to  be  borrowed  from  one  language 
into  another,  from  those  which  were  originally  com- 
mon to  the  two. 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  French  words  in 
English, — that  is,  of  words  borrowed  from  the  French. 
I  do  not  know  the  percentage,  nor  yet  the  time  requir- 


352  A  P  P  E  NMJ  I  X  . 

ed  for  their  introduction  ;  and  as  I  am  illustrating  the 
subject  rather  than  seeking  specific  results,  this  is  un- 
important. Prolong  the  time,  and  multiply  the  words ; 
remembeiing  that  the  former  can  be  done  indefinitely. 
Or,  instead  of  doing  this,  increase  the  points  of  con- 
tact between  the  languages.  What  follows?  We 
soon  begin  to  think  of  a  familiar  set  of  illustrations ; 
some  classical  and  some  vulgar :  of  the  Delphic  ship, 
so  often  mended  as  to  retain  but  an  equivocal  iden- 
tity; of  the  Highlander's  knife,  with  its  two  new 
blades  and  three  new  handles;  of  Sir  John  Cutler's 
silk  stockings,  degenerated  into  worsted  by  darnings. 
We  are  brought  to  the  edge  of  a  new  question.  We 
must  tread  slowly,  accordingly.  In  the  English  words 
call-esi!,  call-e//i  (call-s,)  and  c&W-ed,  we  have  two  parts ; 
the  first  being  the  root  itself,  the  second  a  sign  of  per- 
son^ or  ten-'ie.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  word  fa- 
ther-5,  son-5,  etc. ;  except  that  the  -s  denotes  case ;  and 
that  it  is  attached  to  a  substantive  instead  of  a  verb. 
Again,  in  wis-e?-  we  have  the  sign  of  a  comparative  ; 
in  wis-es^,  that  of  a  superlative  degree.  All  these  are 
inflexions.  If  we  choose  we  may  call  them  inflexional 
elements ;  and  it  is  convenient  to  do  so,  since  we  can 
analyze  words  and  contrast  the  different  parts  of  them : 
for  example,  in  call-s^  the  call  is  radical,  the  -s  inflex- 
ional. Having  become  familiarized  Avilh  this  distinc- 
tion, we  may  now  take  a  word  of  French  or  German 
origin — ^2iy  fashion  or  itxdtz.  Each,  of  course,  is  for- 
eign. Nevertheless,  when  introduced  into  English,  it 
takes  an  English  inflexion.  Hence  we  say,  if  I  dress 
absurdly  it  is  fashions  faidt ;  also,  1  am  wallz-'mg,  I 
waltz-Qd,  he  waltz-es,  and  so  on.  In  these  ])articular 
words,  then,  the  inflexional  part  has  been  English, 
even  when  the  radical  was  foreign.  This  is  no  isola- 
ted fact.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  sufficiently  common  to 
be  generalized,  so  that  the  grammatical  pnrt  of  language 
has  been  accredited  with  a  permanence  which  has  been 
denied  to  the  glossaricd  or  vocahidar.     The  one  chan- 


APPENDIX.  353 

ges,  the  other  is  constant ;  the  one  is  immortal,  the 
other  fleeting;  the  one  form,  the  other  matter.  Now 
it  is  imaginable  that  the  glo~sarial  and  grammatical 
tests  maj  be  at  variance.  They  would  be  so  if  all 
our  English  verbs  came  to  be  French,  yet  still  retain- 
ed their  English  inflexions  in  -ecZ,  -s,  -ing,  etc.  They 
would  be  so  if  all  the  verbs  were  like  fashion^  and  all 
the  substantives  like  quadrille.  This  is  an  extreme 
case  ;  still,  it  illustrates  the  question.  Certain  Hindu 
lanffuaoes  are  said  to  have  nine  tenths  of  the  vocables 
common  with  a  language  called  the  Sanskrit,  but  none 
of  their  inflections;  the  latter  being  chiefly  Tamul. 
What,  then,  is  the  language  itself?  This  is  a  question 
which  divides  philologists.  It  illustrates,  however,  the 
difference  between  the  two  tests — the  grammatical  and 
the  glossarial.  Of  these,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  for- 
mer is  the  more  constant.  Yet  the  philological  meth- 
od of  investigation  requires  caution.  Over  and  above 
the  terms  which  one  language  borrows  from  another, 
and  which  denote  intercourse  rather  than  affinity, 
there  are  two  other  classes  of  little  or  no  ethnological 
value.  1.  Coincidences  may  he  merely  accidentcd.  The 
likelihood  of  their  being  so  is  a  part  of  the  doctrine 
of  chances.  The  mathematician  may  investigate  this  ; 
the  philologist  merely  finds  the  data.  Neither  has 
been  done  satisfactorily,  though  it  was  attempted  by 
Dr.  T.  Young.  2.  Coincidences  may  have  an  organic 
connection.  No  one  would  say  that  because  two  na- 
tions called  the  same  bird  by  the  name  cuckoo,  the  term 
had  been  borrowed  by  either  from  the  other,  or  by 
both  from  a  common  source.  The  true  reason  would 
be  plain  enough.  Two  populations  gave  a  name  on 
imitative  principles,  and  imitated  the  same  object. 
Son  and  brother.^  sister  and  daughter — if  these  agi'oe,  the 
chances  are  that  a  philological  affinity  is  at  the  bottom  of 
the  agreement.  But  does  the  same  apply  to  papa  and 
mamma,  identical  in  English,  Carib,  and  perhaps  twen- 
tv  other  languages  ?     No.     They  merely  show  that 


354  APPENDIX. 

the  infants  of  different  countries  begin  with  the  same 
sounds.  Such — and  each  class  is  capable  of  great 
expansion — are  the  cases  where  philology  requires 
caution,"* 

AYe  have  seen  that  Prichard,  Bunsen,  and  other 
eminent  philologists,  who,  on  data  derived  from  the 
study  of  languages,  advocate  the  doctrine  of  a  com- 
munity of  descent  for  all  the  human  tribes,  enjoin  a 
like  caution  in  founding  conclusions  on  mere  verbal 
coincidences.  And  yet  these  eminent  philosophers 
are  rudely  assailed,  not  indeed  personally,  but  as 
members  of  a  class,  by  Mr.  Luke  Burke,  who  avers 
that  "  a  whole  tribe  of  comparative  philologists,  with 
a  fatuity  almost  inconceivable,  have  coolly  withdrawn 
the  science  of  ethnology  from  the  control  of  zoology, 
and  settled  it  to  their  own  infinite  satisfaction,  as  per 
catalogue  of  barbarian  vocabularies."  Mr.  Gliddon, 
with  characteristic  complacency,  indorses  the  charge, 
and  applies  it  personally  to  Dr.  Latham,  whom  he 
flippantly  terms  "  an  inexhaustible,  learned,  and  labo- 
rious ethnological  '  catalogue-maker.' "  He  seemingly 
forgets  that  even  M.  Maury,  in  favor  of  whose  specu- 
lations, as  an  attempt  to  support  the  diversity  doctrine, 
Mr.  Gliddon  is  willing  for  the  nonce  to  lay  aside  his 
usual  expressions  of  contempt  for  comparative  philol- 
ogy and  its  professors,  fully  admits  the  significance  of 
"a  similitude  of  vocabulary"  in  establishing  a  com- 
mon origin  for  difterent  tongues.  How  much  more 
rational  is  the  system  thus  impotentl}^  assailed,  than 
the  gratuitous  theory  which  asserts  that  it  is  just  as 
natural  for  races  of  men  presenting  similai'  typical 
characters  to  use  spontaneously  similar  modes  of 
speech  without  borrowing  from  a  common  source,  as 
it  is  for  all  species  of  thrush  "  to  sing  thrushwA,"  as  is 
alleged  by  Prof.  Agassiz.     Dr.  Carpenter,  indeed,  men- 


*  R.  G.   Latham.      Man  and  his  Migrations.     New   York.      1855 
Pp.  87-94. 


APPENDIX.  355 

tions  a  fact  which  is  utterly  irreconcilable  with  this 
theory : 

"  It  is  not  a  little  curious,"  he  remarks,  "  that  the 
linguistic  affinity  should  often  be  strongest  where  the 
conformity  in  physical  characters  is  slightest,  and 
weakest  where  this  is  strongest.  Thus,  among  the 
Malayo-Polynesian  and  the  American  Kaces,  as  already 
remarked,  there  are  very  striking  difierences  in  con- 
formation, features,  complexion,  etc. ;  and  yet  the 
linguistic  affinity  of  the  great  mass  of  tribes  forming 
each  group  is  not  now  doubted  by  any  philologist, 
though  a  doubt  may  still  hang  over  some  particular 
cases.  On  the  other  hand,  the  hiatus  between  the 
Turanian  and  the  Seriform  languages  is  very  wide  ; 
but  the  physical  conformity  is  so  strong  between  the 
Chinese  and  the  typical  Mongolian  nations,  that  no 
ethnologist  has  ever  thought  of  assigniiig  to  them  a 
distinct  origin.  So,  again,  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
near  relationship  between  the  American  and  the  Tu- 
ranian languages ;  but  the  affinity  of  the  two  stocks 
appears  to  be  established  by  the  transition  link  afford- 
ed by  the  E.-qtiimaux,  which  are  Mongolian  in  their 
conformation  and  American  in  their  language."* 

We  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  comparison 
here  made  has  reference  to  conformity  or  the  want  of 
it,  in  respect  to  "physical  characters,"  whereas  accord- 
ing to  tht!  special  theory  of  M.  Maury,  the  comparison 
is  made  witli  reference  to  equality  of  "  intellectual 
state;"  but  inasmuch  as  our  opponents  are  adherents 
of  that  school  of  "positive"  philosophy,  which  holds 
that  the  lihysiqiie  determines  the  morale^  to  such  an 
extent  that  even  linguistic  affinities  are  to  be  explained 
on  the  ground  of  special  resemblances  "  in  the  internal 
structure  of  the  throat,"  they,  of  course,  are  estopped 
from  raising  any  objection  on  that  score  to  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  fact  noticed  by  Dr.  Carpenter. 

W.  B.  Carpenter.      Op.  Cit.,  p.  1347. 


356  APPENDIX. 

We  have  risen  from  the  perusal  of  M.  Maury's  in- 
structive paper  with  a  strengthened  conviction  of  the 
value  of  tlie  evidence  derived  from  comparative  phil- 
ologj^,  in  establishing  a  community  of  descent  for  the 
most  diverse  types  of  mankind.  He  has  himself  pre- 
sented most  pregnant  examples  of  such  evidence, 
though,  in  blind  adherence  to  a  foregone  conclusion, 
he  refuses  to  perceive  their  real  bearing. 

Chapter  II.  is  entitled,  "  Iconographic  Researches  on 
Human  Races  and  their  Arts^''''  by  Francis  Pulszky, 
late  Under  Secretary  of  State  in  Hungary.  In  this 
paper  the  author  attempts  to  establish  the  following 
facts : 

"I.  That  whilst  some  races  are  altogether  unfit  for 
imitative  art,  others  are  by  nature  artistical  in  differ- 
ent degrees. 

"  II.  That  the  art  of  those  nations  which  excelled 
in  painting  and  sculpture,  was  often  indigenous  and 
always  national ;  losing  not  only  its  type,  but  likewise 
its  excellence,  by  imitating  the  art  of  other  nations. 

"III.  That  imitative  art,  derived  from  intercourse 
with,  or  conquest  by,  artistic  races,  remained  barren, 
and  never  attained  any  degree  of  eminence ;  that  it 
never  survived  the  external  relations  to  which  it  owed 
its  origin,  and  died  out  as  soon  as  intercourse  ceased, 
or  when  the  artistic  conquei'ors  became  amalgamated 
with  the  unartistic  conquered  race. 

"  IV.  That  painting  and  sculpture  are  always  the 
result  of  a  peculiar  artistical  endowment  of  certain 
races,  which  cannot  be  imparted  by  instruction  to  un- 
artistical  nations.  This  htness  or  aptitude  for  art 
seems  to  be  altogether  independent  of  the  mental 
culture  and  civilization  of  a  people ;  and  no  civil  or 
r.  ligious  prohibitions  can  destroy  the  natural  impulse 
of  an  artistical  race  to  express  its  feelings  in  pictures, 
statuaiy,  and  reliefs." 

We  are  by  no  means  satisfied  that  the  author  has 
succeeded  in    "establishing"   his  conclusions,  but  we 


APPENDIX.  357 

do  not  care  to  argue  this  point,  and  are  willing,  for 
the  sake  of  argument,  but  only  for  that  reason,  to 
concede  his  several  positions.  We  yet  hold  that  they 
lend  no  countenance  to  the  doctrine  of  the  plural 
origin  or  specihc  diversity  of  men.  The  case  would 
be  perfectlj^  parallel  to  that  of  the  permanency  of  any 
other  characteristic,  whether  physical  or  moral,  of 
well-established  varieties.  It  has  been  shown  tliat 
peculiarities,  whether  of  bodily  conformation  or  of 
physical  temperament,  may  be  transmitted  to  off- 
spring, even  though  they  had  been  acquired  by  the 
progenitors.  Not  knowing  the  origin  of  the  principal 
varieties  of  the  human  species,  we  cannot,  of  course, 
account  for  their  diversities  in  respect  to  artistical 
capacity,  any  more  than  we  can  account  for  differences 
of  stature,  conformation  of  skull,  color  of  skin,  etc., 
each  and  all  of  which  we  have  found  to  be  invalid  as 
tests  of  specific  diversity.  This  conclusion  is  further 
strengthened  by  the  consideration,  that  precisely  par- 
allel phenomena  are  observed  among  individuals  and 
famihes  belono-ins;  to  the  same  race. 

The  next  paper  (Chapter  III.)  is  a  sketch  of  the 
"  Cranial  Characteristics  of  the  Baccs  of  Jlen^^^  by  Dr.  J. 
A.  Meigs,  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine  in 
the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine.  This  paper 
embodies  a  notice  of  the  additions  and  changes  which 
the  collection  of  human  crania  made  by  the  late  Dr. 
Samuel  Morton,  and  now  owned  by  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  at  Philadelphia,  has  undergone  since 
the  decease  of  its  founder.  We  have  attempted  to 
show  that  Dr.  Morton  failed  most  egregiously  to  estab- 
lish the  doctrine  of  diverse  human  species.  That  the 
"  additions"  made  to  his  collection  of  crania  have  not 
materially  strengthened  the  case,  is  virtually  admitted 
by  Dr.  Meigs,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  pas- 
sage of  his  prefatory  letter  addressed  to  Messrs.  Nott 
and  Gliddon.  "In  the  treatment  of  my  subject,  you 
will  observe  that  I  have  confined  myself  chiefly  to  a 


358  APPENDIX. 

simple  statement  of  facts,  carefully  and  designedly  ab- 
staining from  tlie  expression  of  any  opinion  upon  the 
'prematurely^  and  perhaps,  in  the  p)'>'^sent  state  of  our 
hnoivledge,  unwisely  mooted  questions  of  the  origin,  and 
primitive  affi.liations  of  man.  Not  a  little  study  and 
reflection  incline  me  to  the  belief  tliat  long  years  of 
severe  and  earnest  research  are  yet  necessary  before 
we  can  pronounce  authoritatively  upon  these  ultimate 
and  perplexing  problems  of  ethnology."  Again,  he 
admits  "  that  diversity  of  cranial  tjq^es  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  diversity  of  origin.  Neither  do  strong 
resemblances  between  such  types  infallibly  indicate  a 
common  parentage."  These  admissions  are  all  that  we 
care  for. 

In  Chapter  IV.,  Dr.  Nott  treats  of  "  Acclimation ; 
or  the  comparative  influence  of  climate,  endemic  and  epi- 
demic diseases  on  the  races  of  man.''''  With  respect  to 
this  paper,  which  in  the  main  is  suggestive  and  high- 
ly interesting,  we  have  to  reiterate  the  two  general  re- 
marks which  have  been  already  applied  to  the  preced- 
ing chapters.  First,  the  A\-riter  assumes  the  specific 
diversity  of  the  human  races,  and,  under  the  bias  of 
this  assumption,  investigates  the  comparative  influence 
of  climate,  etc.,  on  these  different  races.  As  might  be 
expected  under  these  circumstances,  he  is  ready  to  ac- 
cept on  slender  and  disputed  evidence  any  fact  which 
seems  to  harmonize  Avith  his  preconceived  opinions. 
Thus,  for  example,  ho  asserts  in  one  place  that  "  ne- 
groes are  comparatively  exempt  from  all  the  endemic 
diseases  of  the  South,"  in  order  to  make  it  appear  that 
such  exemption  is  a  specific  characteristic  of  the  race ; 
for  he  further  contends  that  the  exemption  could  not 
have  been  acquired  by  acclimation,  as  there  is  no  ac- 
climation against  malarious  diseases.  lie  frequently 
refers  to  this  as  an  incontestable  fact,  though  in  a  note 
he  candidly  admits  that  the  correctness  of  the  state- 
ment is  questioned  by  persons  of  large  experience. 
"  A  medical  friend  (Dr.  Gordon)  who  has  had  much 


APPENDIX.  359 

experience  in  the  diseases  of  the  interior  of  Alabama, 
South  Carolina,  and  Louisiana,  has  been  so  kind,"  he 
says,  "  as  to  look  over  these  sheets  for  me,  and  assures 
me  that  I  have  used  language  much  too  strong  with 
regard  to  the  exemption  of  negroes.  He  says  they 
are  quite  as  liable  as  the  whites,  according  to  his  ob- 
servations, to  intermittents  and  dj^sentery,"  The  other 
general  remark,  which  the  perusal  of  this  paper  sug- 
gests, is  the  one  we  have  now  so  often  repeated  respect- 
ing the  law  of  the  transmission  of  the  peculiar  char- 
acteristics of  "  varieties."  If  the  races  of  men  differ- 
ed from  one  another  in  respect  to  acclimation  and  the 
susceptibility  to  certain  kinds  of  disease,  to  a  much 
greater  extent  than  can  be  proved,  or  than  is  even  al- 
leged by  the  most  extreme  advocate  of  the  theory  of  hu- 
man diversity,  the  fact  would  by  no  means  disprove 
the  common  origin  of  these  races,  but  would  be  en- 
tirely explicable  in  consistency  with  the  laws  which 
determine  the  perpetuation  of  certain  acquired  peculi- 
arities. In  other  words,  the  susceptibility  of  a  race  to 
one  class  of  diseases,  and  their  exemption  from  anoth- 
er class,  might  be  a  part  of  the  characters  distinguish- 
ing it  as  a  variety  from  other  I'aces  within  the  limits  of  a 
single  species.  That  no  specific  distinction  between  the 
races  can  be  founded  on  this  alleged  difference  of  sus- 
ceptibility  to  disease,  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  the 
phenomenon  lacks  the  invaiiable  constancy  which  is 
necessary  to  render  it  valid  as  a  test  of  species.  While 
most  Negroes,  for  example,  are  exempt  from  liability 
to  yellow  fever,  many  full-blooded  Africans  do  take 
the  disease  and  die  of  it.  "Moreover,  the  comparative 
immunity  of  the  race  finds  a  parallel  in  the  phenom- 
ena often  observed  among  individuals,  and  even  whole 
families,  belonoing  to  the  white  races.  While,  then, 
we  recognize  in  the  paper  under  consideration  many 
interesting  and  important  facts,  we  contend  that  few 
of  them  have  any  bearing  upon  the  question  of  the 
single  or  plural  origin  of  man,  and  that  not  one  is  in- 
consistent with  the  idea  of  unity  of  species  and  origin. 


360  APPENDIX. 

The  two  remaining  chapters  are  by  Mr.  Gliddon, 
and,  like  bis  contributions  to  "  Types  of  Mankind," 
are  characterized  by  a  great  show  of  bibliographical 
knowledge,  with  a  vast  amount  of  irrelevant  anecdote. 
The  first  of  these  chapters  (Chapter  V.)  has  the  follow- 
ing pedantic  title  :  "The  Monogenists  and  the  Po- 
LYGENISTS ;  being  an  exposition  of  the  doctrines  of 
schools  professing  to  sustain  dogmatically  the  Unity 
or  Diversity  of  Human  Races;  with  an  inquiry 
into  the  antiquity  of  mankind  upon  earth,  viewed 
chronologically,  historically,  and  pal^ontologically." 
This  paper  opens  with  an  introductory  citation  of  a 
passage  from  the  French  translation  of  Humboldt's 
"  Cosmos,"  which  passage  he  alleges,  is  entirely  omit- 
ted in  Sabine's  translation,  and  is  inaccurately  render- 
ed in  that  of  Ott^.  The  passage  in  question  embraces 
one  cited  by  the  illustrious  author  from  an  unpublish- 
ed work,  by  his  brother,  William  Humboldt,  on  the 
"  Diversity  of  Languages  and  Peoples,"  which  is  in- 
terpreted by  Mr.  Gliddon  as  the  expression  of  a  "ma- 
ture opinion"  on  the  part  of  these  eminent  savans,  ad- 
verse to  the  doctrine  of  the  single  origin  of  mankind. 
We  do  not  concede  the  accuracy  of  this  interpretation 
of  a  fragmentary  passage  from  an  unpublished  work. 
In  order  to  make  our  own  exegesis  intelligible,  it  is 
necessary  to  giv^e  the  entire  passage,  and  inasmuch  as 
Mr.  Gliddon  denies  the  accuracy  of  Otte's  rendering, 
we  will  cite  his  own  version  of  M.  Guigniaut's  French 
translation  of  the  "Cosmos,"  and  give  also  his  flippant 
comments,  interspersed  through  the  text,  and  distin- 
guished by  being  inclosed  in  brackets  : 

"  Geographical  researches  on  the  primordial  seat,  or, 
as  it  is  said,  upon  the  cradle  of  the  human  species, 
possess  in  fact  a  character  purely  mythic.  '  We  do 
not  know,'  says  Wm.  Humboldt,  in  a  work  as  yet  in- 
edited,  upon  the  diversity  of  languages  and  of  peoples, 
"  we  do  not  know,  either  historically,  or  through  any 
{whatsoever)  certain  tradition,  a  moment  when  the  hu- 


APPENDIX.  361 

man  species  was  not  already  separated  into  groups  of 
peoples.  [Ilehrew  literature,  in  caramon  with  all  others, 
is  thus  rejected,  heing  equally  unhistorical  as  the  rest?^ 
AVhether  this  state  of  things  has  existed  from  the  ori- 
gin, {say  beginning,)  or  whether  it  was  produced  later, 
is  what  cannot  be  decided  through  liistory.  Some  is- 
olated legends  being  reencountered  upon  very  diverse 
points  of  the  globe,  without  apparent  communication, 
stand  in  contradiction  to  the  first  hypothesis,  and 
make  the  entire  human  genus  descend  from  a  single 
pair,  [cis for  example,  in  the  ancient  book  called  ^Oenesis.^'\ 
This  tradition  is  so  widely  spread,  that  it  has  some- 
times been  regarded  as  an  antique  remembrance  of  men. 
But  this  circumstance  itself  Avould  rather  prove  that 
there  is  not  therein  any  real  transmission  of  a  fact, 
any-soever  truly  historical  foundation ;  and  that  it  is 
simply  the  identity  of  human  conception,  which  ev- 
erywhere leads  mankind  to  a  similar  explanation  of  an 
identical  phenomenon.  A  great  number  of  myths 
Avithout  historical  link  {say  connection)  whatever  the 
ones  and  the  others,  owe  in  this  manner  their  resem- 
blance and  their  origin  to  the  parity  of  the  imagina- 
tions or  of  the  reflections  of  the  human  mind.  That 
which  shows  still  more  in  the  tradition  of  which  we 
are  treating,  the  manifest  character  of  fiction,  {Old  and 
New  Testament  narratives  inchided,  of  course,)  is,  that 
it  claims  to  explain  a  phenomenon  beyond  all  human 
experience,  that  of  the  first  origin  of  the  human  spe- 
cies, in  a  manner  conformable  to  the  experience  of  our 
own  day ;  the  manner,  for  instance,  in  which,  at  an 
epoch  when  the  whole  human  genus  counted  already 
thousands  of  years  of  existence,  a  desert  island,  or  a 
valley  isolated  amid  mountains,  may  have  been  peo- 
pled. Yainly  would  thought  dive  into  the  meditation 
of  this  first  origin ;  man  is  so  closely  bound  to  his 
species  and  to  time,  that  one  cannot  conceive  {such  a 
thiyig  as)  an  human  being  coming  into  the  world  with- 
out a  family  already  existing,  and  without  a  past,  {an- 
16 


362  .  APFf^NDIX, 

tecedent,  that  is,  to  sucli  man's  advent.)  This  question, 
therefore,  not  being  resolva"ble  either  by  a  process  of 
reasoning  or  through  that  of  experience,  must  it  be 
considered  that  the  primitive  state,  such  as  a  pretended 
{cdludmg  to  the  Biblical,  necessarily)  tradition  describes 
to  us,  is  really  historical — or  else,  that  the  human  spe- 
cies, from  its  commencement,  covered  the  eai^th  in  the 
form  of  peoples?  This  is  that  which  the  science  of 
languages  cannot  {[ecidiQ  {as  tlieologers  sup2Josef)hj  it- 
self, as  {in  like  manner)  it  ought  not  either  to  seek  for 
a  solution  elsewhere,  in  order  to  draw  thence  elucida- 
tions of  those  problems  which  occupy  it." 

Setting  aside  for  the  present  Mr.  Gliddon's  in- 
terpolations, we  remark  that  not  only  no  "  mature 
opinion,"  but  absolutely  no  opinion  at  all  is  expressed 
by  the  two  brothers,  on  the  subject  of  the  origin  of 
mankind,  except  to  af&rm  that  the  "phenomenon  is 
beyond  all  human  experience,"  and  therefore  "not  re- 
solvable either  by  a  process  of  reasoning  or  through 
that  of  experience."  For  while  comparative  philology 
is  adequate  to  trace  the  relationship  of  languages,  and 
thus  to  trace  all  languages  to  one  primeval  stock,  or  at 
least,  when  considered  in  connection  with  other  criteria 
of  the  alliance  of  races,  to  demonstrate  a  community 
of  origin  for  all,  it  does  not  "  by  ITSELF  decide" 
that  the  entire  human  genus  have  descended  from  "  a 
single  pair,"  inasmuch  as  a  primeval  tongue  might 
have  been  communicated  to  any  number  of  individuals 
as  well  as  to  two. 

Now,  as  to  Mr.  Gliddon's  interpolations,  it  is  surely 
a  suspicious  sign  that  he  is  not  satisfied  to  let  the  Ilum- 
boldts  speak  for  themselves,  without  his  gratuitous 
explanations.  If  they  really  intended  to  characterize 
the  Holy  Scriptures  as  ['"myths,  fiction,  and  pretended 
tradition,''^  this  would  not  be  the  proper  occasion  for 
the  easy  work  of  refuting  such  a  charge.  We  should 
merely  refer  our  readers  to  the  standard  works  on  the 
"  Evidences  of  Christianity."     But  in  point  of  fact, 


APPENDIX.  363 

we  have  not  the  least  idea  that  either  brother  meant 
to  make  any  allusion  to  the  Scriptures  at  all.  We 
have  seen  that  many  of  the  most  judicious  theologians 
of  the  past  and  present  ages  acquiesce  in  the  expe- 
diency of  the  rule  that  scientific  researches  should  not 
be  restricted  by  the  supposed  meaning  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  pursued  irrespectively 
of  any  apparent  counter  statements  of  the  inspired 
record.  Whatever  Mr.  Gliddon  may  do,  it  is  certain 
that  neither  of  the  great  savans  whom  he  so  flagrantly 
misrepresents,  would  have  gone  out  of  his  way  to 
speak  contemptuously  of  the  sacred  volume.  They. 
were  discussing  a  scientific  problem,  on  the  pure  prin- 
ciples of  science. 

We  have  afiirmed  that  they  did  not,  in  this  dis- 
cussion, express  the  opinion  ascribed  to  them  by  Mr. 
Gliddon,  and  have  endeavored  to  justify  our  affirma- 
tion by  the  language  of  the  very  passage  cited  by 
him.  We  now  present  further  and  fully  confirmatory 
proof  In  this  same  work,  the  "  Cosmos,"  Alexander 
Humboldt  says : 

"The  comparative  study  of  languages  shows  us 
that  races  now  separated  by  vast  tracts  of  land,  are 
allied  together,  and  have  migrated  from  one  common 
primitive  seat ;  it  indicates  the  course  and  direction  of 
all  migrations,  and,  in  tracing  the  leading  epoch  of 
developments,  it  recognizes,  by  means  of  the  more  or 
less  changed  structure  of  the  language,  in  the  per- 
manence of  certain  forms,  or  in  the  more  or  less 
advanced  distinction  of  the  formative  system,  which 
race  has  retained  most  nearly  the  language  common  to 
all  who  had  migrated  from  the  general  seat  of  origin." 

"  The  largest  field  for  such  investigations  into  the 
ancient  condition  of  language,  and  consequently  into 
the  period  when  the  whole  family  of  mankind  loas  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  woixl,  to  be  regarded  as  one  living 
tuhole,  presents  itself  in  the  long  chain  of  Indo-Grer- 
manic  languages,  extending  from   the   Ganges  to  the 


364  APPENDIX, 

Iberian  extremity  of  Europe,  and  from  Sicily  to  the 
North  Cape." 

"  From  ttiese  considerations  and  tlie  examples  by 
"wbicli  they  have  been  illustrated,  the  comparative 
study  of  languages  appears  an  important  rational 
means  of  assistance  by  which  scientific  and  genuinely 
philological  investigation  may  lead  to  a  generalization 
of  views  regarding  the  affinity  of  races,  and  their  con- 
jectural extension  in  various  directions  from  one  com- 
mon point  of  radiation.''''* 

Mr.  Gliddon  is  himself  constrained  to  admit  that 
Alexander  Humboldt  has  expressed  himself  most  un- 
equivocally in  favor  of  the  specific  unity  of  mankind ; 
but  he  attempts  to  weaken  the  force  of  the  admission 
by  drawing  the  distinction  between  unity  of  species 
and  community  of  origin.  Quoting  the  following  ex- 
pressions of  Humboldt, — namely,  "But,  in  my  opinion, 
more  powerful  reasons  militate  in  favor  of  the  unity 
of  the  human  species;"  and  again:  "In  sustaining 
the  unity  of  the  human  species,  we  reject,  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  the  distressing  distinction  of  su- 
perior and  inferior  races," — Mr.  Gliddon  confesses  that 
such  "language  admits  of  no  equivoque,"  and  adds: 
"  But  it  is  the  accuracy  of  the  first  assertion,  namely, 
'the  unity  of  the  human  SPECIES,'  that,  without  some 
ventilation  of  the  Baron's  precise  meaning,  I  cannot 
accept." 

But  further,  he  incidentally  lets  fall  a  remark  which 
proves  that  he  knew  William  Humboldt  as  well  as  his 
brother  to  have  a  most  decided  leaning  towards  the 
doctrine  of  the  radiation  of  the  human  races  from  one 
original  centre.  The  remark  is  this:  "But  even 
under  the  supposition  that  Wilhelm  von  Humboldt, 
in  his  now  past  generation,  when  writing  on  the 
^Diversity  of  Languages  and  of  Peoples,'  may  have 
speculated  upon  the  probability  of  reducing  both  into 

'Cosmos — Otte's Translation,  Vol.  II.,  p.  111.     New  York. 


one  original  stock,  it  will  remain  eqi5'%l;^ceEtaifi^"fhat,  -  , 
in  such  assumed  conclusion,  be  was  biased  by  no  dog- 
matical respect  for  jSIyths,  Fiction,  or  Pretended 
Tradition  ;  and  furthermore,  that  if  he  grounded  his 
results  on  the  '  Kami  Sprache^''  he  inadvertently  built 
upon  a  quicksand,  as  subsequent  researches  have  estab- 
lished." 

The  animus  of  all  this  is  patent.  While  Mr. 
Gliddon  "  cannot  accept"  certain  scientific  conclusions 
of  the  celebrated  brothers,  he  is  generously  willing  to 
tolerate  such  heresies  in  science,  in  consideration  of 
the  assumed  fact  that  they  agree  with  him  in  regarding 
and  characterizing  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  "  myths,  fic- 
tion, and  pretended  tradition."  These  eminent  savans 
are  entitled  to  but  little  consideration  in  matters  of 
science  Avhich  have  been  the  study  of  their  lives,  if 
their  conclusions  are  distastefid  to  Mr.  Gliddon ;  but 
if  they  happen  to  use  equivocal  expressions  which  he 
can  torture  into  a  denial  of  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  they  have  never  made  a  special  study,  they  be- 
come pro  hac  vice  an  indisputable  authority  with  that 
gentleman.  "I  cannot  but  congratulate  myself,"  he 
complacently  says,  "that — however  other  great  au- 
thorities may  be  found  to  agree  with,  or  to  contradict 
him,  on  the  question  of  human  monogenism  or  polyg- 
enism — in  rejecting  'myths,'  'fiction,'  and  'pretended 
tradition,'  I  find  myself  merely  and  implicitly  follow- 
ing in  the  wake  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt." 

We  thus  see  that  after  making  a  noisy  effort  to  show 
that  "  theologers"  had  misrepresented  the  HUmboldts 
in  ranking  them  on  the  side  of  monogenism,  Mr.  Glid- 
don has  himself  more  than  once  admitted  the  very  fact, 
for  the  assertion  of  which  on  the  part  of  others  he  has 
raised  an  outcry  of  "literary  dishonesty." 

We  shall  dismiss  the  subject  of  this  gentleman's 
writings,  and  conclude  our  notice  of  the  book,  by  quot- 
ing a  few  passages  from  one  or  the  other  chapter  con- 
tributed by  him,  as  specimens  of  his  mode  of  scientific 
discussion : 


366  APPENDIX. 

"  BuNSEN — with  whom  philology  and  ethnology  are 
synonyms  through  which  we  shall  recover,  some  day, 
the  one  primeval  language  spoken  by  the  first  pair,  who 
are  now  accounted  ^heatorum  in  coelis'' — declares,  '  that 
physiological  inquiry,  (one,  as  we  all  know,  completely 
outside  of  the  range  of  his  high  education  and  various 
studies,)  although  it  can  never  arrive  by  itself  at  any 
conclusive  result,  still  decidedly  inclines,  on  the  whole, 
towards  the  theory  of  the  unity  of  the  human  race.'  " 
To  which,  with  very  bad  taste,  to  say  no  more,  he  ap- 
pends the  following  note :  "  '  Multse  terricolis  linguse, 
coelestibus  una,'  is  another  way  of  stating  such  axiom. 
How  did  this  last  writer  know  that  people  do  talk  one 
language  in  heaven?  Can  he  show  us  whether  the 
'  dead '  have  speech  at  all  ?  Duiing  some  generations, 
the  Sorbonne,  at  Paris,  discussed,  in  school-boys'  themes, 
a  coherent  enigma,  namely:  An  sancti  resurgant  cum 
intestinis — not  a  less  difficult  problem  for  such  youths' 
pedagogues  1 " 

In  another  paragraph  he  says :  "  Except  as  orthodox 
repellers  of  free  investigation,  the  wn%-men  have  really 
no  place  in  ethnological  science,  unless  with  Alexan- 
der VON  Humboldt  they  use  the  term  '  unity '  in  a 
philosophical  (or  '  parliamentary')  sense,  and  not  in  the 
one  currently  understood  by  theologers." 

In  other  words,  Prichard,  Lepsius,  Bunsen,  Max 
MiiLLER,  and  others,  whose  intellectual  ability  and  im- 
mense erudition  even  Mr.  Gliddon  himself  fully  admits, 
have  yet,  according  to  him,  no  place  in  ethnological 
science,  the  very  specialty  to  which  they  have  devoted 
the  labors  of  their  lives,  since  they  advocate  the  doc- 
trine of  "  unity"  in  the  sense  currently  understood  by 
theologians. 

Our  next  extracts  present  another  instance  of  similar 
inconsistency  and  contradiction.  They  refer  to  the 
Chevalier  Bunsen.  Alluding  to  certain  philological 
inductions  which  Bunsen  considers  to  have  been  estab- 
lished by  the  researches  of  Dr.  Max  Miiller,  Gliddon 


APPENDIX.  367 

denies  "  the  competency  of  any  man  living^  in  the  actual 
state  of  science^  to  he  considered  a  ''philologist''  if  he  enun- 
ciate such  a  doctrine^  He  is  not  satisfied  to  question 
the  correctness  of  this  particular  induction,  but  he 
denies  the  competency  in  general  terms,  of  both  Bunsen 
and  Miiller,  in  their  own  special  field  of  study.  And 
yet  a  few  pages  further  on,  he  couples  the  name  of 
Bunsen  with  that  of  Lepsius,  and  characterizes  them  as 
"  two  world-renowned,  and  by  myself,  much-honored 
names,''  and  adds  ;  "I  have  always  felt  proud  to  sit  at 
their  feet  for  instruction,  received,  as  not  a  slight  por- 
tion of  what  little  I  know  has  been,  oftentimes  with 
mine  own  feet  under  their  respective  mahoganies." 

Finally,  after  all  this  confident  assertion,  it  appears 
that  Mr.  Gliddon  has  yet  some  misgivings  as  to  the 
value  of  his  various  proofs  of  the  plural  origin  of  man- 
kind,— for  he  says  : 

"  For  my  own  part,  I  have  met  with  no  reason  to 
amend  or  change  the  position  taken  in  the  last  course 
of  lectures  delivered  in  New  Orleans,  as  regards  my 
individual  opinions  on  the  unity  or  diversity  of  human 
origin.     It  was  the  following : 

"  1st.  That  every  argument  hitherto  brought  forward 
on  the  unity  side,  is  either  refuted  or  refutable ;  but 
that, 

"2d.  Whilst  the  reasonings  in  favor  of  diversity 
preponderate  greatly  over  those  against  it,  I  do  not, 
nevertheless,  hold  the  latter  to  be,  as  yet,  absolutely 
proven. 

"  Lest  such  assertion  should  appear  paradoxical,  I 
would  explain,  that  the  proofs  of  diversity  are  chiefly 
of  a  negative  character:  and  on  the  other  hand,  these 
questions  being  still  sub  judice^  some  discovery  in  sci- 
ence, now  unforeseen,  may  hereafter  establish  unity 
upon  a  certain  basis"  !  ! 

We  are  fully  persuaded  that  this  "  unity"  is  already 
established  on  a  perfectly  certain  basis.  From  the 
nature  of  the  problem,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  cer- 


368  APPENDIX. 

tain  difficulties  should  be  encountered  in  the  attempt 
to  demonstrate  the  specific  unity  and  common  origin 
of  diversified  races  of  men  distributed  over  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth.  But  when  we  examine  the  facts  a 
little  closely,  even  as  they  are  presented  to  us  separately, 
and  as  isolated  phenomena,  we  do  not  find  a  single  one 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  a  common  origirj, 
while  very  many  are  of  impossible  explanation  on  any 
other  hypothesis.  If  now  we  combine  the  separate 
facts  and  contemplate  them  in  their  mutual  bearing, 
any  other  conclusion  becomes  utterly  irrational  and 
absurd.  It  is  because  some  men  fail  to  look  at  the 
question  in  this  way,  that  they  still  refuse  to  perceive 
the  incontestable  proofs  of  the  unity  of  mankind.  This 
course  appears  to  us  as  irrational  as  it  would  be  to 
doubt  the  self-supporting  powers  of  an  arch  because  its 
constituent  parts  could  not  separately  support  them- 
selves in  the  same  position.  Even  if  ihe  difficulties  of 
mouogonism  were  much  greater  than  they  are,  they 
would  be  small  indeed  compared  with  the  contradic- 
tions and  absurdities  into  which  the  advocates  of  po- 
lygenism  necessarily  fall. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Agassiz,  L.,  30,  99,  128,  158,  166,  181,  191,  197,  331,  339, 
Bachman,  J.,  D.  D.,  31,  40,  41,  46,  69,  78,  146,  188,  200,  238,  239. 
Barton,  Dr.  E.  H.,  52. 
Berkeley,  Bishop,  268. 
Bodichon,  144. 

Breckinridge,  Rev.  R.  J.,  303 
Browne,  Peter  A.,  134. 
Bryant,  Jacob,  336. 
Buflfon,  120,  (note)  173. 
Bunsen,  105,  223,  232,  277,  294. 
Burckhardt,  120. 

Carpenter,  Dr.  W.  B.,  23,  49,  60,  64,  68,  75,  96,  109,  130,  134,  135,  137, 

157,  293,  314,  323,  326. 
Catlin,  113,  133. 
Crawfurd,  J.,  203. 
Cuvier,  F.,  55,  65. 
Cuvier,  G.,  29. 

Dana,  Prof!  J.  D.,  33,  (note)  147,  (note)  284,  315. 
Darwin,  C,  38. 
Draper,  Prof.  J.  W.,  139,  153. 
Fitzroy,  Rear  Admiral,  336. 
Flourens,  293. 

Forbes,  Prof.  Edward,  170,  175. 
GaUatin,  A.,  294. 
Gente,  A.  &  C.  D'Orbigny,  286. 
Gibbon,  120,  (note). 

Gliddon,  G.  R.,  (See  J.  C.  Nott,)  283,  285,  293,  (note)  360. 
Goadby,   Dr.  Henry,  135,  (note). 
Gobineau,  Count  A.  de,  87,  261. 
Guyot,  Prof  A  ,  285,  (note). 
Hitchcock,  President,  285,  293. 

[369] 


370  INDEX    OF    AUTHORS. 

Hooker,  Dr.  J.  P.,  314. 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von,  124,  219,  294,  350. 
Humboldt,  William  von,  203,  210,  293,  360. 
Kenrick,  John,  275. 
Kitto,  J.,  336. 
Latham,    Dr.  R.  G.,  349. 
Lawrence,  Wm.,  21. 
Leidy,  Prof.  Joseph,  342. 
Lepsius,  ChevaHer,  105,  106,  115,  226,  294. 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  49,  52,  56,  57,  60,  66,  68,  170,  173,  237,  243,  269, 

271,  293. 
Maury,  Alfred,  343. 
Maury,  Capt.  M.  F.,  247. 
Meigs,  Dr.  J.  A.,  357. 
Miller,  Hugh,  111,  264,  293. 
Morton,  Dr.  S.  G.,  31,  77,  93,  113,  128,  133  (note). 
Muller,  Prof.  J.,  47,  138,  293,  309. 
Miiller,  Dr.  Max,  221,  232. 
Napier,  Lieut.  Col.  E.  E.,  328. 
Neill,  Dr.  J.,  132. 

Nott,  Dr.  J.  C,  55,  68,  88,  105,  108,  115,  128,  140,  197,  273,  282,  291, 

292,  295,  357. 
Owen,  Prof  Richard,  55,  66,  272,  340. 
Pickering,  Dr.  C.  256,  288,  294. 
I'oinsett,  Hon.  J.  R.,  107. 

Prichard,  Dr.  J.  C,  37,  41,  50,  54,  94,  95,  109,  116,  134,  137,  151,  154, 

166,  211,  293,  320,  329. 
Pulszky,F.,  356. 
Eoberton,  Dr.,  323. 
Riippell,  Dr.,  117. 

Schoolcraft,  H.  R.,  133,  (note)  247,  255,  294, 
Sharpe,  Samuel,  279. 
Smith,  Col.  Hamilton,  84,  249. 
Smyth,  Rev.  Thos.,  D.  D.,  230  (note). 
Usher,  Dr.  "Wm.,  271,  334. 
Vrolik,  R..  125. 

Wollaston,  T.  Vernon,  180,  318. 
Wyman,  Prof,  291,  340. 
Young,  Dr.,  230  (note).    XB 


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